2023-03-07 11:19:05.0

DinaCard posts excellent results in 2022

Based on the number and value of transactions executed in the DinaCard system in 2022, it can be concluded that yet another successful year is behind us in terms of the use of the national payment card.

DinaCard system saw a further rise in the number of transactions in 2022 – by 20% for transactions at physical points-of-sale and by around 66% at internet points-of-sale relative to 2021. This trend was supported by the higher number of internet points-of-sale accepting Dina cards, which currently stands at 1,800. Overall, Dina cards are accepted at practically all POS terminals and ATMs in the acquiring network.

The NBS underlines that the use of the national payment card brings significant benefits and advantages for the society as a whole, which is why national card systems are present in a large number of advanced economies worldwide – Germany, France, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Norway, Belgium, etc. The significance of having a national card system is multiple:

  • banks pay lower charges to national compared to international card systems, which reduces the costs for the society at large given that in practice banks pass these costs onto users – merchants (through merchant fees) and citizens (through current account maintenance services, etc). For instance, banks’ costs paid to international card systems in 2019 and 2020 exceeded EUR 100 mn, which is equivalent to over 95% of the total revenue of all card systems in the market, while their share in total turnover was 75%. The costs paid to the national card system in the same period equalled EUR 5.6 mn or slightly over 5% of total revenue of all card systems in the market, while the share of the national card system in total turnover was 25%.
  • the funds paid for the services of national card systems stay in the country and do not constitute an outflow. Quite to the contrary, they contribute to national economies;
  • the services are adjusted to local needs;
  • a national card system ensures independence of the financial system as the execution of payment card transactions does not depend on unilateral decisions of card systems which are private companies. The processing and netting of international card transactions are performed outside the Republic of Serbia;
  • financial inclusion – national card systems are better adjusted to the needs of local buyers and merchants through development of new products, whereby cashless payments are made more accessible to both households and businesses. A great example in this context is payment in instalments by debit card, which is analogous to payment by cheque;
  • stronger competition – a national card system prevents monopolies/duopolies which are typical for payment card markets (banks have greater choice, international card systems cannot impose unfavourable business terms.

The list of online points-of-sale where the domestic payment card can be used for payments is available at www.dinacard.nbs.rs/lista.

At the NBS’s initiative to offer users a cashless payment instrument that would enable deferred payment within their means and without the need for additional borrowing from banks, payment in instalments using DinaCard debit cards was enabled. As transaction processing costs in the DinaCard system are much lower than for international card systems, when users pay by DinaCard either in the form of deferred payments or in instalments, merchants pay a significantly lower fee than for similar card products by foreign card systems. This makes DinaCard the right choice for merchants for this type of payment as well. In 2022, the turnover for this payment instrument increased by 32% relative to 2021.

Interest-free payment in instalments using the debit DinaCard payment card is currently enabled by three banks in our market – Banka Poštanska štedionica, NLB Komercijalna banka and Banca Intesa.

Card infrastructure in the previous year continued to develop successfully by increasing the capacity of the acquiring network and accepting the payment card of China’s UnionPay card system, which is now accepted at ATMs of all banks and at most of the POS terminal acceptance network. Also, activities have been initiated to enable the acceptance of payment cards by the Discover Financial Services card system from the USA in Serbia.

In addition to all of the above, we would like to remind the public that in cooperation with Banka Poštanska štedionica, UniCredit banka and NIS Petrol and Mercator Srbija companies, DinaCard card system has offered users a new and modern functionality that facilitates cash withdrawal without having to go to an ATM or a bank teller’s, which is particularly important for people living in places with no ATMs or branch offices of their banks. This service is called “Get dinars” and enables users to raise cash up to RSD 5,000, with no extra costs, when making a payment at all NIS Petrol and Gazprom petrol stations, or when shopping in Mercator/Roda/iDEA stores. In addition to these benefits for DinaCard holders, this service is also important for merchants because it reduces the time needed for management, as well as lowers the costs of cash management, i.e. the amount of cash in the cash register decreases, because once it is paid to a buyer, the cash turns into money in the merchant’s account, whereby the merchant effectively pays a part of the turnover into his account. At the same time, the “Get dinars” service increases merchant competitiveness as it is an option that can attract an additional number of consumers to the facility.

The obtained results show that the national DinaCard is the first choice of payment card holders, as well as the most desirable card by merchants, i.e. the most cost-effective choice for all participants in the domestic payment services market.

Governor’s Office