In 5 years the average amount per payment at POS terminals has decreased twofold, yet the number of transactions has grown by 110%;

UniCredit Bulbank has already installed over 2,000 contactless POS terminals all over the country.

Ladies are more and more active on the market in financial services and card payments. This is shown by the latest analysis of UniCredit Bulbank on the use of debit and credit cards. For the last 5 years, the number of women using card products has grown by 95%, whereas with men this growth is by 67%.

In mid-2014, UniCredit Bulbank's female cardholders have almost reached the number of men, up to 49%. Among the reasons why women have become so active in the use of bank cards is the development of products and services fully tailored to the needs of women themselves.

"UniCredit Bulbank follows a consistent policy of developing and implementing innovations to the benefit of its clients. In 2014 the Bank celebrates its 50th anniversary and, confident in the future, continues to work in this direction. The clients of UniCredit Bulbank use the most advanced mobile banking and a full range of contactless payment cards", commented Tsvetanka Mincheva, Director of Retail Banking with UniCredit Bulbank.

In 2013 and 2014, UniCredit Bulbank issued its female clients over 74 thousand credit and debit cards of the Donna series, which provide discounts of up to 25% at 620 merchant outlets all over the country. Two years ago the bank opened its first branch dedicated to women in Sofia, and thus officially launched its dedicated service model and product line for women which is available in the whole country.

For the first six months of this year, the total number of users of credit cards has grown by 6% compared to a year ago, shows the analysis of UniCredit Bulbank. At the same time the volume of payments by these products has increased by 18%. There is positive statistics also with the holders of debit cards, where by mid-2014 there has been a 14% increase on the volume of purchases. Considering the positive results since the beginning of the year and the traditionally strong summer months, the expectations are for a preserved monthly growth in card payments.

Analyses of the last five years show that the users of bank products use these more and more often for everyday purchases. Thus while in 5 years the average amount per payment at POS terminals has decreased twofold, the number of transactions has grown by 110%. The confidence which clients have in bank cards most of all affects their use, where the preferred option is becoming the payment at POS terminals at merchant outlets or on the Internet, rather than ATM cash withdrawals.

Because of the convenience and the shorter times at tills, a growing number of people prefer paying by contactless cards. By mid-2014 over 150 thousand clients of UniCredit Bulbank already hold debit and credit cards with the contactless functionality. Along with the users of contactless cards, there has been growth also in the number of POS terminals which allow such payments. UniCredit Bulbank has already installed over 2,000 contactless POS terminals all over the country. According to data of the International Card Organizations, over 80 million contactless cards have been registered on the European market and can be served by more than 1.4 million contactless terminals.

By the new debit and credit cards Visa Classic, MasterCard Standard, Debit MasterCard and V Pay cardholders can make contactless purchases at POS terminals without having to enter PIN code for amounts by BGN 25 and without signing the receipt (the new opportunity is going to be available soon also to holders of Visa Electron). For purchases of over BGN 25 the payment can be made in the same way, only by entering PIN code in addition.

More information for clients:

UniCredit Bulbank, Call Centre

Phone: 0700 1 84 84

More information for media:

UniCredit Bulbank, Identity & Communications Department

Viktoria Blajeva, Phone: + 359 2 9264 993, wjlj/ebwjepwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch

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

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