OREANDA-NEWS. May 07, 2010. This April saw the Bank’s total number of Visa and MasterCard issues top the 700,000 mark. Results for 2009 show Uniastrum gaining a Top-20 placing for cards in circulation, as well for cards issued in the course of the year, reported the press-centre of Uniastrum.

In 2009 Uniastrum issued 186,700 payment cards, or 35% more year-on-year. During the reporting period, the Bank remained heavily focused on developing its payroll programs, under which it gave out more than 326,600 cards, simultaneously cementing its positions on the debit and credit card market by offering generous interest on debit card account balances and competitive lending terms and simple application formalities for potential credit cardholders. Meantime, Uniastrum’s total credit card portfolio more than doubled, weighing in at Rb 1.8 bn as of January 1, 2010, while payment cardholders’ overall cash balance climbed 8% in 2009 to reach Rb 1.7 bn as of year-start 2010.

Based on figures released by RosBusinessConsulting news agency, Uniastrum currently ranks 17th Russia-wide by its number of in-house ATMs, placing 6th by the number of ATMs in Moscow (as of January 1, 2010). As of April 1, 2010 the Bank’s network of Uniastrum-brand ATMs totaled 667, inclusive of 253 machines in Moscow and the Moscow region.

According to the results of a popular rating survey conducted by CREDCARD.RU web portal in 2009, Uniastrum Bank ranks among Russia’s Top-5 most trusted banks providing plastic card services.

“Rolling out our card operation is a strategic business priority,” says Oleg Shvetsov, Acting Chairman of Uniastrum’s Management Board. “We dramatically increased our number of debit and credit card issues in 2009, and this year we plan to more than double our credit card portfolio to Rb 4 bn.”