Dragutanu advocates non-cash payments

In the not so distant future, people in Moldova will also be able to pay for products and services using their mobile phone, National Bank Governor (NBM) Dorin Dragutanu told a news conference on Friday, Info-Prim Neo reports. “The number of mobile phone users is progressively growing. Even elderly people now have one. The mobile phone has also massively penetrated our villages. And we have proposals from foreign investors who are interested in developing this system of payments in our country”, said Dragutanu. According to him, the mobile payments have a number of advantages, the greatest being the swiftness of transactions. And they don't require the installation of costly equipment like ATMs or POS terminals. Dorin Dragutanu went on to add that although the number of persons who hold bankcards is rising, in most cases these are used to withdraw cash rather than to pay for products or services. “It all comes down to ungrounded prejudice or habits. At the same time, there are no incentives to encourage people to use bankcards to pay for services and products ”. “In Moldova there is too much cash on hands. This causes price rises on the market and creates conditions for illicit transactions. If, for example, the commission paid for withdrawing cash were greater than for making card payments, then people would choose the second modality”, said Dorin Dragutanu. He was confident that in a couple of years bankcard payments would be widespread in our country too, but for this to happen, it is needed to support businesses that invest in non-cash payment systems, including by granting them fiscal incentives.