Number of payment cards on the rise

Banks in the Czech Republic have so far issued almost 8.3 million payment cards, with a year-on-year increase of 690,000, according to data published by the Bank Card Association (Sdruzeni pro bankovni karty). The number of credit cards issued by banks has exceeded 1 million. In the first half of 2007, Czechs bought goods worth 71 billion crowns using payment cards. In the same period, Czechs withdrew 264 billion crowns from ATMs. Debit cards are the most frequent type of cards but the number of credit cards issued by Czech banks has been rising recently.