Author: Mariana Velikova-Chausheva, Head of Cards Department at UniCredit Bulbank

In the past year there was a boom of contactless cards on the card payments market in Bulgaria. Along with the fast spreading of contactless cards and the network of POS terminals supporting such payments, there was also another predicted and expected effect of the added contactless functionality – further increase of the customers' payments of any amounts for purchases. The contactless card has an additional (upgrading) functionality enabling contacless payments, but it can, of course, be used also for the familiar kinds of transactions – at a POS terminal with chip or magnetic strip reading and mandatory entering of PIN code, at an ATM, on the Internet. The number of purchases at POS terminals is larger than that in 2013 by approximately 28% and the volume – by 33%. For another year in a row UniCredit Bulbank has been the main driver of this growth. The bank reports that the number of transactions has increased by 30%, and the volume – by 36%.

UniCredit Bulbank is focused on developing the contactless payments throughout the year and is actively communicating to its card holders and partner merchants the advantages of this kind of payments. This is evident from the continuous process of expanding the bank's portfolio of contactless products, the strategy for automatic renewal of the expiring cards with contactless ones and the gradual migration of all kinds of mass cards to ones with contactless functionality. The newest entries in 2014 were Visa Electron, Visa Business Electron and Visa Classic Donna. Soon UniCredit Bulbank is going to please also its football fans with MasterCard UEFA Contactless.

At present the bank has issued over 260 000 contactless cards and there are approximately 4000 contactless terminals where these cards can be used. These indicators form respectively about 1/5 of all contactless cards issued in Bulgaria and about 30% of the serviced contactless terminals at a market level. The updated information about the spreading of the new payment standard in Europe shows that customers can make contactless payments at 2 million terminals in 25 countries, which is a growth of 67% for one year.

As regards the terminal network at a market level, the latest data of BNB show that the number of merchants with POS devices as at the end of the first half of 2014 registered a net increase of 600 (from 42 700 in 2013 up to 42 300 in 2014), and the terminals are 79 000 (10% increase in comparison to 2013). This is a continuation of the tendency of growth from previous years. As regards the АТМ terminals, there was no increase and they have remained 5 900.

In 2014 UniCredit Bulbank registered a significant expansion of its POS terminals network by 14% against the preceding year and is already servicing over 17 000 devices at its partner merchants. The bank remains a leader in terms of largest number of commercial outlets, number of transactions and volume of payments realized in them. The ambition of UniCredit Bulbank is to provide its customers with the opportunity and convenience to pay with a card even in the smaller towns as well as at smaller commercial outlets. The focus remains also on the gradual migration to devices with contactless functionality, which are expected to fully replace the others within two years.

The ATMs of the bank are already 770; 31 of them offer a deposit function, and 550 offer to the card holders a 24/7 access to their accounts. The surveys of UniCreadit Bulbank show that the coverage of the ATM network on the territory of the country has been excellent in the recent years. This statement is supported also by data of the World Bank, which place Bulgaria in the top 20 of the countries with the largest number of ATMs per 100 000 people of the population; other countries in this group are Italy, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Japan, Australia, Brazil, France.

For another consecutive year there has been a significant growth of electronic trading. Compared to 2013, the number of purchases from the partner merchants of UniCredit Bulbank that accept electronic payments increased by 44% in the past year and the realized volume – by 34%. The number of merchants accepting card payments electronically is increasing too.

Campaigns and promotions

UniCredit Bulbank reported a strong year in terms of conducting of various campaigns – independently or in cooperation with the international card organizations. In this way the bank stimulates the issuance of cards and motivates card holders to make payments with them. Among the most important promotional campaigns of UniCredit Bulbank were the following:

Contactless cards

Last year started with an initiative aimed at stimulating the issuance and use of Debit MasterCard PayPass, where every contactless transaction brought with it the chance of winning an attractive IT prize. Throughout the year the attention to the new payment standard was attracted also as part of the ongoing national campaigns of the international card organizations.

Initiative for the 50th anniversary of UniCredit Bulbank

On April 1, UniCredit Bulbank marked 50 years since its foundation and one of the special initiatives on the occasion was the sale of credit cards Visa Classic, MasterCard Standard and the special series MasterCard UEFA Champions League. The promotion was under the motto 5 х 0 = 50 – for its anniversary the bank offered to its customers credit cards free of charges under 5 parameters. The use of credit cards was stimulated also through the awarding of 50 high-tech prizes.

VenZy + Visa Electron

For the launch of its new contactless Visa Electron, UniCredit Bulbank partnered with one of the most popular young pop idols in Bulgaria – VenZy, and conducted a special campaign to promote the product through the new song of the performer, namely "I Can Trust You". The main target group were the youths and their parents.

In the video to the song, VenZy himself demonstrates the convenience and quickness of contactless payments, as well as the attractive design of the card. In addition, the bank made illustrated cards with VenZy's face and his message, which the holders of Visa Electron receive.

Banking for every pocket

In the autumn, UniCredit Bulbank conducted a campaign for issuance of VISA Classic or VISA Classic Donna at preferential conditions together with a free-of-charge registration for the mobile banking service Bulbank Mobile. The package included also a special gift – a waterproof case for a phone, cards and documents. In addition, the use of credit cards gave the customers of UniCredit Bulbank the chance to participate in a game for 5 amazing excursions for two to a destination of their choice with covered travel and accommodation costs.

Security of card payments

Along with the efforts to improve the functionalities of the card products and services according to the needs and requirements of its customers, UniCredit Bulbank keeps improving actively the security of its card payment instruments. In 2014, the scope of the service Activation During Shopping was extended to all holders of Visa and MasterCard cards of the types Platinum, Gold, Business, Standard, Classic, as well as of the newest contactless card Debit MasterCard. Activation During Shopping is an automated system, which invites the customers to create their own personalized 3D Secure password for secure online payments. When the customer uses its card to make purchases on the Internet, s/he receives an invitation from UniCredit Bulbank to register the card for the service Trustworthy Payments in Internet. To do this, the customer has to enter the information required in the message and the registration is completed after the customer has created their own secret password for Internet payments without an additional fee.

As usual we pay attention also to the good practices for convenient use of cards – for both physical and electronic payments:

• Keep your card with the appropriate care and attention;

• The card and the card details should always be used personally by the card holder;

• Change the PIN code at an ATM immediately after receipt of the card and memorize it;

• Upon cash withdrawals from ATMs always put your hand over the keypad when you enter the PIN;

• Use the free-of-charge service Trustworthy Payments in Internet;

• Subscribe for the SMS notification service;

• Control the access to your personal computer, smartphone or tablet;

• Do not open and do not answer an e-mail message that wants you to provide card or personal data. In such case you should immediately consult the bank if you have any doubts about the authenticity of the message;

• If there is a problem with an order placed by you via the Internet, we advise you to contact the merchant directly and to try to solve the situation with them. If this turns out impossible, UniCredit Bulbank is ready to assist you accordingly;

• Keep all documents related to an online purchase, as well as any correspondence with the merchant;

• In case of loss/theft of a card or if you have any doubts that the same is being used illegally by other persons, you have to IMMEDIATELY inform the bank and order blocking of the card;

• Make sure that you have at hand the phone numbers of the Call Centre of UniCredit Bulbank:

o 0700 1 84 84 or short number 1 84 84 for local mobile operators;

o +359 700 1 84 84 for calls from abroad;

o E-mail address: CallCentrе@UniCreditGroup.bg;

o 24/7 assistance about bank cards and merchants:

02/ 933 7 212 and short number 15 212 for local mobile operators.

• In case of change of your phone number, address or e-mail for contact, please timely communicate this to UniCredit Bulbank. Your availability is of great importance for the protection of your finances.

Tendencies for 2015

• Continuing focus on contactless payments, including via instruments such as bracelets, smart watches, keychains;

• Evolution in the card mobile payments and money transfers from one card to another via a mobile phone;

• Development of programmes for rewarding the card holders' loyalty and strengthening the partnerships with key merchants;

• Additional physical and logical innovative approaches for protection of the cards and the trustworthiness of card payments;

• Expansion of the functionalities and the opportunities for servicing of card payments at small and medium-sized enterprises, in view of the fast digitalization and the opportunities it provides;

• Development of the POS terminals network in the smaller towns and smaller commercial outlets;

• Development of the network of self-service terminals for card payments;

• Development of electronic trading through increase of the virtual terminals and the number of card holders using the service.

Just like last year, this year too UniCredit Bulbank will be a market leader in terms of innovations and newest tendencies in card payments.

Further information for clients:

UniCredit Bulbank, Call Centre

Phone number: 0700 1 84 84

More information for media:

UniCredit Bulbank, Identity & Communications Department

Ekaterina Ancheva, Phone: + 359 2 9264 963, flbufsjob/bodifwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch

Magdalena Ivanova, Phone: + 359 2 9232 528, nbhebmfob/jwbopwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch