The number of bank cards in Russia is growing, but they are used less

In the first quarter, the number of active payment cards in the Russian Federation decreased by 7.4 million. This happened for the first time since mid-2020, when citizens reduced consumer activity amid pandemic restrictions. At the same time, the total number of payment cards continues to grow and has already exceeded 400 million.

In January-March, the number of cards issued by Russian banks for the first time exceeded 400 million. The Central Bank disclosed these data in the statistical bulletin (.pdf), published on Tuesday, June 6.

In total, 11.3 million new cards were issued in January-March, which is slightly lower than the results of both the fourth (by 5.8%) and the first quarters (by 8%) of 2022.

Despite the growth in the number of issued cards, the number of used payment cards (on which transactions were carried out during the quarter) decreased by 7.39 million since the beginning of the year, to 245.3 million. The last time the number of cards in use was reduced in the second quarter of 2020 (against the background of quarantine introduced due to the coronavirus pandemic).

The current reduction in the number of active cards is most likely due to the fact that many previously took cards of the Mir payment system in the “try” and “in reserve” mode, fearing that the cards of international payment systems would not work, suggests Roman Prokhorov, head of the board of the Financial Innovations Association. . “We tried, compared cashbacks and returned to the cards of international payment systems, where cashbacks in some cases are still better than with Mir cards,” he points out.

In addition, according to Dmitry Vishnyakov, an expert in the payment card market, the negative dynamics could have arisen due to the expiration or suspension of operations of a certain type of cards – payment products that were used by banks as part of their strategy or serving the needs of their corporate clients. “For example, virtual cards that are issued instantly but are used for one transaction. Or cards for receiving payments or compensation – prepaid products, ”he admits.

According to the Central Bank, retail card transactions for the past quarter amounted to 35.8 trillion rubles, 1.3% higher than a year earlier and 12% lower than in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Of these, 6.9 trillion rubles. amounted to cash out operations, 11.7 trillion rubles – payment for goods and services, which is generally within the average values ​​of 2022.

Meanwhile, the volume of cash receipts did not show growth in the first quarter (it decreased by 1.2 trillion rubles compared to the volume of cash received in the fourth quarter of 2022), while the volume of cash in circulation in the system as a whole increased to 16 .7 trillion rubles, according to the data of the Bank of Russia.

Experts explain this by the fact that card withdrawal statistics reflect transactions through ATMs, while for large amounts, as a rule, money is ordered at a bank branch. In particular, daily and monthly limits of commission-free withdrawal are set for cash withdrawal by cards.

“Accordingly, when it comes to the need to receive large sums, it is more profitable to receive them directly from the accounts. And from the point of view of security, it is more pleasant to calmly receive and count a large amount of cash in a separate room of the cash desk than to pull out wads of money from an ATM in front of everyone,” says Mr. Prokhorov. Therefore, with a significant increase in cash transactions, the indicators of cash withdrawals on cards do not grow so significantly or do not grow at all, the expert concludes.

Market participants note that at present, the issue of cards, after last year’s surge associated with the mass issue of Mir cards, has reached a plateau. “The seasonal holiday factor is practically absent, given the extremely limited use of Mir cards abroad and problems with the use of cards (Chinese payment system.— “b”) UnionPay. The issuance of cards in new territories can have a significant impact on the increase in emission,” Mr. Prokhorov believes. According to Dmitry Vishnyakov, in the future it is possible to predict an increase in the issue of cards against the background of the re-issuance of cards of payment systems that have left the Russian market.

Olga Sherunkova, Maxim Buylov