By the end of 2020, 85 percent of Croatia’s population had payment cards

By the end of 2020, there were 3.45 million consumers in Croatia with payment cards, meaning that out of a total of 4.05 million residents, 85 percent had at least one payment card, over 29 percent had two, and more than 17 percent had three payment cards, according to data from the Croatian National Bank (HNB).

As stated in the HNB publication “Payment Cards and Card Transactions – 2020,” a total of 8.78 million payment cards were registered in Croatia, which is 4.8 percent less than at the end of 2019.

By the end of last year, there were 3.45 million consumers holding payment cards, meaning that out of a total of 4.05 million residents, 85 percent had at least one payment card. Over 29 percent had two payment cards, and more than 17 percent had three. Furthermore, 240,264 payment card holders were business entities.

The average monthly number of used payment cards last year was 4.83 million, while there were 3.55 million unused and 0.55 million blocked. Thus, out of the total number of payment cards, an average of 54 was used monthly last year, meaning that almost every second card issued in Croatia was not used in the last year (40 percent) or was blocked (6 percent).

Out of the total number of cards, 6.92 million or 79 percent were debit cards, which is 0.41 percent more than the previous year. The remainder, 1.85 million or 21 percent, were credit cards, which is 20.32 percent less than at the end of 2019.

According to the HNB, the decrease in the number of credit cards at the end of last year compared to the previous year was the result of a business decision to exit the Croatian market by one card brand (American Express). Namely, they state that the replacement of payment cards of that card brand’s three-party card scheme was carried out in such a way that the “old” cards were active until December 31, 2019, and the “new” ones from the moment of delivery to the payment card holder, so the total number of credit cards in the country on December 31, 2019, was temporarily increased by the amount of those “old” cards.

Strong growth of contactless cards

As emphasized by the HNB, significant changes based on technologies and functionalities have occurred in the card market in recent years, one of which is the increase in the number of issued contactless payment cards.

In Croatia, a significant increase in the number of issued contactless payment cards was recorded in 2020, by as much as 59.5 percent compared to 2019. By the end of last year, 5.67 million contactless payment cards were issued, or about 65 percent of the total number of issued payment cards. There were 3.1 million contact cards or 35 percent of the total number.

The strong increase in the number of contactless payment cards was certainly contributed to by the widespread infrastructure that enables the initiation of contactless payments, according to the HNB.

They cite the example that of the total number of active EFTPOS devices in Croatia, more than 80 percent allowed the initiation of contactless payments for holders of cashless payment cards.

The first contactless ATMs were introduced back in March 2017, when there were 111, and by the end of 2020, there were already 1,112, which makes up 22 percent of the total number of all ATMs in the country.

According to data from the publication, in 2020, there were a total of 21 credit institutions and 2 electronic money institutions that issued payment cards, and their users executed 526.15 million national card payment transactions, with a total value of 178.15 billion kuna, which is an increase compared to 2019 of 1.2 and 0.9 percent.

On average, 43.85 million payment transactions were executed monthly with cards issued in Croatia, and the average monthly transaction value was 14,846.17 kuna.

On average, 9.08 card payment transactions were made monthly per used payment card, with a total value of 3,072.96 kuna.

The continuous growth in the number and value of cashless and cash payments has been present in Croatia in recent years, the HNB emphasizes, with the number of card payment transactions growing on average annually by 8.1 percent over the last five years, and the value of transactions by 6.7 percent.