Only 5% of bank cards used for purchases

TIRANA, April 25 – Only 5 percent of people possessing bank cards used them for purchases in authorized Points of Sale (POS) during 2010, the central bank says in its latest financial stability report. The remaining 95 percent of transactions included cash withdrawal from ATMs, said the report, revealing the ongoing trend of the cash-dominated payments despite the rising number of customers having a bank account.
Data show only seven of the 14 banks licensed to issue cards enable their clients to make purchases through them in POS at shops, restaurants, hotels or trade centres.
The number of people with bank accounts to make payments in lek or foreign currency rose by 17 percent to 2.5 million accounts at the end of 2010. Some 27,000 of the accounts can be also used online, with their number almost doubling compared to the end of 2009. However, online banking is estimated at low levels. Home banking is also increasing. Since its launch in 2005, the service is now offered by 11 of the 16 banks operating in Albania.
Last year registered some 163,000 electronic transactions worth 92 billion lek, accounting for 3 percent of total payments by customers. Central bank data some 10.5 million transactions, worth 108 billion lek, were made in 2010 through ATM and POS.
A recent study published by the Competition Authority showed commercial banks operating in Albania are not transparent with their customers and charge higher fees even compared to regional branches in the Balkans, creating barriers in the use of banking services in Albania. The study covering the end of 2009 and 2010 showed banks often charge fees in euro and not in the national currency, lek, for some services such as current accounts or cheques putting consumers at risk of facing negative currency exchange rate effects. The monitoring also revealed second-tier banks in Albania, which are overwhelmingly foreign-owned, apply different fees for the same services and do not notify their customers when commissions increase, violating the regulation on the transparency of banking products and services.