The Central Bank recorded a record issue of bank cards

The number of cards in RUSSIA at the end of 2022 amounted to 389.6 million, the figure grew by a record 18% over the year. The Russians opened new Mir and UnionPay cards after Visa and Mastercard left,

At the end of 2022, Russian banks issued about 389.6 million cards for individuals. Over the year, their number increased by 18%, follows from the statistics of the Bank of Russia, which RBC got acquainted with. This is a record annual growth rate since 2014, when the Central Bank started counting data in a new format.

At the end of 2021, there were 301 million cards in circulation, which is 9% more than in 2020. In other periods, the annual growth ranged from 4 to 7%, and at the end of 2018 it was completely close to zero.

The data of the Central Bank take into account all the cards that are in circulation. The statistics do not reflect the number of closed cards. RBC sent a request to the Central Bank.

How the number of cards and operations on them increased over the year

According to the results of the fourth quarter of 2022, 252.6 million cards were active. The Central Bank refers to such cards those with the help of which at least one transaction was made during the quarter.

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In total, in 2022, individuals made transactions with the help of cards for a total of 149.7 trillion rubles, this figure increased by 15.9% over the year. The main volume is non-cash payments (46.8 trillion rubles). Another 73.3 trillion rubles. citizens sent each other, and about 29.5 trillion rubles were withdrawn from cards in cash. Despite the surge in demand for cash withdrawals in February and September 2022 due to the start of the military operation in Ukraine and the announcement of partial mobilization, this figure is only 5.6% more than in 2021. Transactions on payment for goods and services increased by 13% over the year, the volume of transfers - by 22.6%.

According to the Central Bank, the number of cards for legal entities at the end of 2022 amounted to 6.9 million, their number increased by 24% over the year (in 2021, the annual increase was 22.5%). Companies and entrepreneurs spent 5.6 trillion rubles on them. The main volume of transactions fell on payment for goods and services - 3.4 trillion rubles. During the year, this figure decreased by 8.3%. About 1.9 trillion rubles were withdrawn in cash from cards. The remaining 310.9 billion rubles. are classified as “other operations”, which includes transfers.

What caused the record growth of cards

The reason for this increase in cards in circulation is quite obvious - this is the reissuance of cards of the international payment systems Visa and Mastercard that left Russia for the Russian Mir or the additional opening of Mir cards, including to continue the usual payment by phone, says the HEAD of the board of the Financial Innovations Association Roman Prokhorov. “The opening of cards of the only international payment system UnionPay remaining in the Russian Federation also made a certain contribution,” he adds.

Also, a number of clients changed banks due to restrictions and other offers in search of the most suitable functionality, adds Egor Krivosheya, head of the blockchain and fintech laboratory at the Skolkovo School of Management: “Together with the organic updating of cards due to loss, reissue and opening of new accounts, this provoked growth of issued plastic cards”. In 2022, the largest Russian banks fell under various sanctions , including blocking ones. This affected their ability to work with currency, as well as make transfers abroad, so some customers got cards in non-sanctioned banks in order to avoid restrictions on cross-border services.

According to Prokhorov, despite the alarming expectations, the increased demand for cards has not led to an obvious shortage of chips and plastic, including because a significant proportion of new cards were issued in a "virtual" format. “Chips have been a rather important issue for a long time, and from time to time the problem of excess demand for chips in comparison with their supply in completely different industries and application cases activates. Most likely, only the Russian market of payment cards cannot provoke a deficit, but it can make its contribution. Nevertheless, this problem is not acute yet, including due to the emergence of new payment instruments, for example, payment services from NSPK, market participants and SBP, ”says Krivosheya.

In March 2022, the largest international payment systems Visa and Mastercard left Russia. As a result, their cards issued by Russian banks stopped working abroad. Russians still have access to the Chinese UnionPay payment system, but it does not have such a wide acceptance network as Visa and Mastercard. This led to a record increase in the issuance of cards not only in Russia, but also in Russia's neighbors, where Russians began to issue Visa and Mastercard cards for non-cash payments abroad.