CBBiH: Citizens Increasingly Paying with Cards and Using Internet Banking

The total number of active bank cards at the end of December 2013 was 1,889,141, which is 58,842 more cards than at the end of December 2012, when there were 1,830,299, it was announced today from the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina, reports the BH news agency Patria (NAP).

- The total value of transactions made using cards, domestically and abroad, in the past year amounted to approximately 7.18 billion KM, which is an increase of as much as 855 million KM compared to the previous year. Of the total transaction value, approximately 4.92 billion KM was withdrawn as cash through ATMs - CBBiH states.

Also, they emphasize that the number of card payments has increased compared to cash.

- The average value of one transaction was 115 KM, and it is 10 KM higher compared to the previous year. The average turnover per card annually was 3,802 KM (317 KM monthly), which is an increase of as much as 345 KM compared to 2012 when the average turnover was 3,457 KM. A noticeable decrease in cash handling at bank counters is observed, thanks to the banks' continuous efforts to increase the number of ATMs and POS devices - CBBiH points out.

In addition, CBBiH states, the tendency to achieve internal savings by rationalizing the number of bank organizational units is evident, so in 2013 the number of branches decreased from 359 in 2012 to 340 in 2013, while the number of lower-level organizational units (agencies, counters...) decreased from 213 to 176. Only the number of sub-offices increased, from 342 in 2012 to 392 in 2013.

- Also, the number of legal entities using the Internet for banking operations is increasing; in 2013, 32,156 were covered by this type of service, and in 2012, 29,599. Data from 2008, when only 18,000 individuals and 14,000 legal entities used these services, best illustrate the increase in the number of Internet or electronic banking users - CBBiH concludes.