The number of cards that were in circulation in the third quarter of this year rose by 7.2% compared with the corresponding period last year. The number of cashless payments made in the country in the period grew by 43.3%, IPN report.

At the end of the third quarter, the number of debit cards issued in Moldova that were in circulation came to 2.31 million, according to the National Bank of Moldova. By the technical solution, the proximity cards represented 99.9% of the new cards issued in the third quarter and 90.5% of the cards in circulation.

Of all the cards in circulation owned by private individuals, 53.7% were possessed by women. The social cards constituted 79% of all the cards.

A total of 7.2 million cash withdrawals were made by debit cards issued in Moldova in the period. 26.2 million operations to the value of 8.3 billion lei were performed by cards.

In 2020, the operations made abroad with cards issued in Moldova decreased considerably in number, being powerfully influenced by the travel restrictions imposed due to the pandemic. In 2021, the situation improved and the number of operations in the third quarter increased by 61.4%, while the value of operations grew by 56.5%.

Frauds with debit cards issued in Moldova came to 3.2 million lei in the period.