There are 301.597 of payment card users: citizens, enterprises, entrepreneurs… The number of issued cards is higher by 136.024 or a total of 437.621, which means that somebody has one card, or more than one.
People often complain that banks charge high fees for card transactions, especially credit card transactions. However, representatives of the Central Bank of Montenegro said that the amount of the fee was the matter of the business policy and competition of every individual bank. They announced, however, cheaper transactions.
“The Central Bank of Montenegro prepared working version of the draft law on interbank fees and special operating rules related to payment cards. This law regulated interbank fees charged to the payee during national payment transactions on the basis of payment cards in Montenegro. This will improve functioning of the internal market and reduce costs for the payment transactions”, said the representatives of the CB.
The data show that the difference between credit and debit cards is big. The reason is that the latter are “more expensive” since they enable the user to use the money of the bank.
Number of credit and debit cards differs from the total number of payment cards. Data about payment cards are given by functions of payment, since one card can have several functions. In addition, cards with the e-money function also count.
Interesting data is that, last year, number of card transactions fell.
Representatives of the Montenegrin Commercial Bank (CKB) said that the number of active cards ranged from 40 to 43 thousand at monthly level. They say that issuing and maintain card is free of charge.
“When a client opens an account at our bank, he /she automatically obtains two debit cards, visa and electron and CKB master debit card. Issuing and maintain cards will be free of charge in the forthcoming period too, in order to enable easier accessibility of digital channels to our clients”, said the representatives of the Montenegrin Commercial Bank.
Representatives of Societe Generale Bank offer the possibility of using two cards as well.
“Great number of clients uses different Le Club packages in which various products, and even cards, are used at significantly lower prices. Raising cash using our debit cards is free of charge. If the clients use some package, they have the possibility to raise cash using the ATMs of all other banks in Montenegro free of charge and not more than 4 times per month, thanks to Mastercard debit card”, said the representatives of Societe Generale Montenegro.
Cards are becoming more and more popular. Representatives of Erste bank say that the number of cards and the recorded turnover increased by one fourth. So far, they haven’t had any information that the users were not satisfied with the price-quality ratio.
“A client is not obliged to pay monthly maintenance of debit cards or a fee for the initial card issue. Cards are valid for the period of four years. Afterwards, clients pay €2,5 for the new one. Our users can raise cash free of charge using the Erste ATM in Montenegro and in another 10 countries in the region where members of Erste or Sparkasse bank group operate”, says Bojan Burić, director of the Sector of direct channels in Erste bank.
Fees, commissions, and terms of use of cards are different in all 13 banks. Cards of the clients of Atlas Bank are still on moratorium, that is, they can’t be used. IBM went bankrupt, so practically this bank doesn’t exist anymore. Commissions and fees are likely to be reduced, and that’s the common feature of every bank. After the new legislation is adopted, we will see if that will happen.
