Some 40% of citizens’ transactions are performed with physical or electronic cards. To further encourage card payments, a national information campaign titled “No cash” will be conducted between April and September. The campaign was launched by the Moldovan Banks Association in partnership with Visa and with the support of the Moldova Future Technologies Activity funded by USAID, Sweden and the UK, IPN reports.
Dorel Noroc, president of the Moldovan Banks Association, noted that the payment methods have now changed. This campaign aims to amplify cashless payments. The goal is to promote the advantages of online payments. According to the Association’s estimates, 40% of citizens’ transactions are made with physical or electronic cards, and the unwillingness to return to physical payments undeniably demonstrates the benefits of cashless payments, such as safety, speed and convenience.
Attending the event, National Bank governor Anca Dragu noted that the commissions for instant payments decreased even to zero lei, for amounts below 5,000 lei. So, payments are not only secure, continuous, but also affordable, which means a lot. The launch of the MIA instant payment system was a success. Between March 12 and April 23, transactions to the value of about 115 million lei were made through MIA - over 124,000 payments. From July this year, there will be integrated the P2P (peer-to-peer) payments to merchants. In June-August, work will be carried out on integrating the MPay system and the State Treasury into the MIA. Also from July, the service of transfer between own accounts will become available.
Dumitru Alaiba, Minister of Economic Development and Digitalization, said that electronic payments are an accelerator of economic development. This means a more transparent economy, and a safe and equal economy. As regards e-commerce, Moldova has potential that hasn’t been practically realized, but this means business and development opportunities for small and large merchants.
Sergiu Rabii, program director at the Future Technologies Activity (#FTA), said that promoting cashless payments is a crucial moment for the development of the financial system in Moldova and the online commerce system. There are positive dynamics in urban areas, for people born after 1982, who extensively use cashless payments, but also a high growth potential in rural areas and among the population from disadvantaged groups, where 2/3 of the population prefers to withdraw cash in cases where it is possible to pay cashlessly.
The campaign is expected to minimize dependence on cash in Moldova’s economy, increase transaction security and access to financial services.
Iana Semyonova, senior consultant at Magenta Consulting, referred to a study carried out by the sociological company, where 30 interviews were conducted with women and men aged 30-67, 19 of whom withdraw money immediately from the card, and 11 use to pay by card. The study showed that most of those who withdraw money from the card do so for direct control over money, for fear of fraud or for distrust in the safety of possible transactions, but also negative experience in using the card, forgetting the password, lack of ATMs in rural areas, impossibility to use the card at the market, for example, or lack of internet. There are issues that need to be taken into account and dealt with so as to encourage the people to stop withdrawing money and to pay by card.
The messages of the campaign will be transmitted through videos on TV, social media. Cooperation relations will be established with online content creators to reach more people. Events will be held, especially for older people, to inform them about the safety and benefits of cashless payments.
