Card transactions up 22% in Moldova

In the first quarter of 2009 transactions via electronic cards issued in Moldova rose by 22 percent to 2.95 billion lei ($262 million), Info-Prim Neo has learned from the National Bank of Moldova. The bulk of the transactions – 2.89 billion lei – constituted cash withdrawals, the remainder being non-cash payments. Transactions with Moldovan cards made abroad constituted 151.3 million lei in this period, up nearly 6 percent on the similar period last year. At the same time, transactions made with foreign cards in Moldova fell by 26.8 percent to 231.9 million lei.