Nine out of ten urban Romanian adults have a bank card and make electronic payments twice a week, on average, according to a recent MasterCard study.

97% of those who make card payments daily or once every 2-3 days, do this for usual shopping. Moreover, 15% of respondents make contactless payments.

Three out of four Romanian cardholders prefer to pay by card in stores because, this way, they don’t need to carry cash. Almost half of them say that card payments take less time than paying cash.

The study reveals that the level of financial education in Romania is not the main reason Romanians choose to pay cash. In general, Romanians don’t pay by card when traders don’t offer that option (50% of respondents chose this reason). Only 1% of respondents said that they don’t know how to pay by card.

60% of respondents prefer to pay their bills by card. Only 12% of them go to the special kiosks while most of them choose to make the payments online, by filling out a form.

More than half of respondents say that they save time when paying by card. 51% believe that online card payments allow them to shop whenever and wherever they want.

Romanian men are more open to paying by card, compared to women. 58% of men make card payments, more than the 48% registered in women’s case. This mainly happens because women want to see the products before buying them.

The study is based on an Omnibus survey conducted by iSense Solutions in the urban areas, for MasterCard.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com