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Romania 2025

Market Overview
Payment Organisations TransFonD (Societatea Nationala de Transfer de Fonduri si Decontari) is the interbank processor of the Romanian electronic payment system.
Domestic Payment Brands No domestic card brands.
Market Structure Cash remains the predominant payment instrument; credit transfers and cheques are used alongside debit cards, which were first issued in 1997. Debit cards are often used for cash withdrawals.

Total cards issued rose from 2.1 million in 2001 to 21.75 million in 2023, lifting penetration to 1.14 cards per capita. Rapid growth of card use.

The banking sector is foreign dominated, with mainly western banks accounting for 56% of the total bank assets.

Emerging Open Banking payment ecosystem
Notable Market Trends Contactless cards and POS terminals, QR-codes, mobile HCE NFC payments, Mastercard MoneySend Service, tokenised payments.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2022 POS payments rose by 24% in volume and 21% in value.
Major Card Issuers Banca Romana Pentru Dezvoltare (BRD), Banca Commerciala Romana (BCR), Banca Raiffeisen, Banca Transilvania/BancPost.
Major Card Acquirers BRD, Global Payments, UniCredit Bank, Banca Transilvania, Banca Raiffeisen.
Major Card Processors Euronet Worldwide, Global Payments, Nexi SIA (I), SIBS (Romcard and Provus).

Key Statistics 2023
Population 19.06 million with 1.14 cards per capita
Cards Debit: 18.63 million

Delayed debit: 5,945

Credit: 2.94 million

Total cards: 21.75 million
Payments  Debit: 1,926.08 million; value RON 248.56 billion (€50.2 billion)

Delayed debit: 0.25 million; value RON 0.16 billion (€33.2 million)

Credit: 135.63 million; value RON 25.90 billion (€5.2 billion)

Total: 1,707.00 million; value RON 228.77 billion (€46.4 billion)
POS Terminals 373, 807 (thereof 446,748 EFTPOS terminals)
POS Payments All cards: 1,601.37 million; value RON 160.53 billion (€32.5 billion)
ATMs 9,663 ATMs.
ATM Withdrawals  All cards: 286.02 million; value RON 289.95 billion (€58.6 billion)
Digital A2A Payments Credit Transfers: 579.8 million, value: RON 9,705.0 billion
Note: payment totals include those made abroad with Romanian cards.

Note: Italic forecast figures for 2024F are estimated in the payment market context based on 2023 figures.

Source: ECB, Banca Nationala a Romaniei (BNR).

General Note – ECB changed its statistical reporting

In the 22nd Edition of the Digital & Payment Card Yearbooks there were some statistical reporting changes to address. The statistical data for 2022 was based on the new ECB regulation ECB/2020/59, which replaced the ECB reporting statistics regulation from 2013 up to 2021 (ECB/2013/43), the well-proven ECB bluebook reporting was discontinued.

For 2022, the ECB declared all data as provisional, because the first-time reporting under the new standard may include errata and double counting.

The researchers and editors worked hard in the 22nd edition to balance out any obvious errata, but it remains that in some instances the data from 2022 cannot be compared to 2021 and previous years.

Where this has occurred, we have clearly stated it and have added explanation to the table and text.

In this, the 23rd Edition we have clarified any errata and filled in all missing data from the previous year.

Introduction – Payments in Romania

Romania is a semi-presidential republic and is ranked as a developing country with a high-income economy. Romania joined the European Union in 2007 but has yet to join the eurozone. Throughout 2021 and in the first part of 2022, the BNR continued to be actively involved in, and contribute to, the discussions at EU level in the broader context of a more in-depth approach to the Economic and Monetary Union and the completion of the Banking Union and of the Capital Markets Union.

Romania’s digital payment development is only now accelerating, as lack of internet infrastructure and digital public services had limited uptake of internet banking and e-commerce. However, technology and mobile infrastructure roll-outs are transforming Romania’s payment market from a heavily cash-based economy into a dynamically growing digital payment market.

The adoption of the revised Payment Services Directive, PSD2, and disruptive technologies have set the stage for digital payments for the digital economy in Romania. They have accelerated digital payment transformation and mobile payment services, as well as cardless IBAN-based payments directly from bank accounts.

In the last decade, Romanian consumers have embraced mobile devices such as tablets, smartphones and Internet of Things (IoT). This change significantly impacts their shopping experience. Consumers become increasingly connected and they have started to purchase anywhere, at any time, from any device.

In addition, new consumer demands are a game changer. Romanian consumers like digital banking apps with access to all their accounts at different banks in one single app, with the option to make payments directly from their bank account of choice. Additionally, they appreciate more banking services and payment services added to their mobile banking app. Consumer adoption of digital payments in Romania is driven by minimal cost, secure payments and a high level of user convenience.

Driven by the development of social media and mobile devices, the emergence of permanently connected consumers has impacted their interactions with brands but also their expectations of how to shop using the increasing number of touch points between consumers and merchants, e.g.:

The ongoing rollout of a mature online and mobile communication infrastructure is an enabler for digital card payment transformation and for Open Banking payments in Romania.

In a few years from now, mobile banking apps and mobile payment apps are expected to combine account management, digital payment services, personal finance management and value-added digital services from location finders to digital vouchers.

Cash payments, card payments and cardless payments directly from bank accounts (A2A payments) remain all relevant for Romanian merchants and are heavily used by Romanian consumers.

This country profile provides an introduction into two competing payment ecosystems in Romania:

Legal Framework for Payment Services

The legal framework for European payment services is a joint project undertaken by the European Commission as the regulator, the European Central Bank (ECB) as the Euro System, and the European Payments Council (EPC) with the objective of standardising payments in Europe and to remove existing barriers, promote cross-border competition between payment services, strengthen the European internal market and drive the digital payment transformation.

Based on its vision, the EU Commission has therefore created a unique legal framework for cashless B2C and B2B payments that supersedes pre-existing national legislation and is binding for financial service providers and payment service providers throughout the EU.

Romania has largely transposed this legal framework into their national payment legislation.

Historically, there has been a de facto national regulation of all Romanian payment schemes with high technical barriers to ensure and defend payment security.

With the implementation of the payment services directive, all payment services in Romania are based on the unique legal framework for payment services of the European Commission effective in the European Economic Area (EEA).

In addition, the respective rules and regulations of the domestic card scheme and the international card schemes continue to be applied by the card payment service providers (e.g. EMV, PCI, R   TS SCA, and SEPA Cards Framework), respectively.

Legal Framework relevant for Payment Services in Romania

The revised Payment Services Directive, PSD2, had established a legal and regulatory framework for payment services providers, enforcing several protections for their clients such as safeguarding of funds; and required them to execute processes in accordance with banking regulations, such as KYC and AML. It has already resulted in significant progress regarding the integration of the European retail payments markets.

Following the alignment with the EEA region, the legal framework for payment services in Romania includes the directives and regulations of the European Commission (EC), the ECB, and/or the national central bank (NCB) of the individual country.

All card payment service providers and all cardless payment service providers of the Open Banking payment ecosystem must apply for the European legal framework including:

Revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2)
PSD2 is the key directive for borderless banking and payment services in Europe.
Among others, PSD2 regulates digital payment services and payment service providers such as payment institutions, e-money institutions, payment initiation service providers and account information service providers. PSD2 formulates the Open Banking Mandate for regulated access to payment accounts.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
GDPR establishes a regulatory framework for customer control of their data through consent mechanisms, the right to be forgotten and the right to retrieve all personal data for re-use at other service providers of choice, thereby preventing a ‘lock-in’ situation.

E-Money Directive (EMD)
The EMD sets out the rules on the business and supervision of e-money institutions.

Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD)
The AMLD6 aims to improve the harmonisation of the criminal liability of money laundering and terrorist financing across the EU27.

Customer Rights Directive (CRD)
CRD gives consumers the same strong rights across the EU. It aligns and harmonises national consumer rules, for example on the information consumers need to be given before they purchase something, and their right to cancel online purchases, wherever they shop in the EU.

EU Price Regulation for cross-border payments
In 2001, Regulation (EC) No 2560/2001, followed in 2009 by Regulation (EC) No 924/2009, fixed uniform underlying conditions for processing cross-border payments in euro, and the fees for intra-EU cross-border payments in euro were aligned with those for domestic payments in euro.

SEPA End-Date Regulation
SEPA payment instruments replaced domestic A2A payment instrument formats for euro payments.

Card Interchange Fee Regulation (IFR)
The IFR caps interchange fees for payments with consumer cards, effective from 9 December 2015. It increases transparency on fees thus permitting retailers to know the level of fees paid when accepting cards.

Domestic bank service laws
Complementary to EC directives and EC regulations.

Characteristics of the PSD2 Outlook: PSD3 and PSR

The adoption of PSD2 has formalised the relationship between banks and trusted payment providers (TPPs) by establishing the Open Banking Mandate providing open access to customer account data and the payments infrastructure. This is expected to stimulate the FinTech market to develop new integrated services models for both consumer and business customers.

This regulation is a reaction to the growing demand from customers as mobile and internet applications have become widely adopted, driving expectations in how services should be delivered across all industries. Other market segments have adopted Open Banking APIs to respond to this demand and demonstrated that innovative applications can grow business and change customer behaviour.

PSD2 has a significant impact on the European payments industry. According to the EC, the revised Payment Services Directive brings several new important elements and improvements to the EU payment market e.g.:

In 2022, the regulator started a PSD2 review process, which will end up in a revised PSD2 dubbed PSD3. While consultations are currently ongoing, the revisions are expected to address the achievements of the PSD2 and evaluate the need for a revised standard.

Proposed EC Revisions to the EU Payment Services Regulation – PSD3 and PSR 

In June 2023, the European Commission (EC) has published its proposed revisions to EU payment services legislation, as well as a proposal on Open Finance/data access in the financial services sector beyond Open Banking/payment accounts in the form of a new Open Finance framework called “FIDA”.

Essentially, the EC is proposing that PSD2 would be split into two different instruments. These will ensure consumers can continue to make electronic payments and transactions safely and securely in the EU, domestically or cross-border, in euro and non-euro. Whilst safeguarding their rights, it also aims to provide greater choice of payment service providers on the market:

The objective of the regulation is to enhance harmonisation of the rules and enforcement across the various EU Member States. In addition, the EC proposed to merge the E-Money Directive (EMD2) with the proposed PSD3 and PSR texts, so as to have one coherent regime for both payment services and e-money services, and thereby ensure a level-playing field between PIs and EMIs.

PSD3 also amends the Settlement Finality Directive (SFD) in order to allow non-bank PSPs (e.g. PIs and EMIs) to participate directly in SFD-designated payment systems. Fintechs will be given access to all EU payment systems, with appropriate safeguards, and giving them a right to have a bank account. That way, those non-bank PSPs would no longer need to rely on banks in order to execute payment transactions.

A system to check IBANs and a platform to enable payment service providers to share fraud-related information are two proposals around consumer protection, including an extension to all credit transfers of IBAN/name-matching verification services. These have been proposed by the Commission for instant payments in Euro. All consumers should benefit from them, for both regular and instant credit transfers.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) is given once again a number of mandates under PSD3 and the PSR to prepare draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) and draft implementing technical standards (ITS), ultimately to be adopted by the EC, as well as guidelines, and to continue maintaining the register.

In 2024, significant progress was made in updating PSD2. In April 2024, the European Parliament adopted the European Commission’s proposals for PSD3 and PSR at first reading. While the exact timelines for enforcement are not yet confirmed, it is anticipated that the finalised versions of PSD3 and PSR may become available by late 2024 or early 2025.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a legal framework that sets guidelines for the collection and processing of personal information from individuals who live in the European Union (EU). Since the Regulation applies regardless of where websites are based, it must be heeded by all sites that attract European visitors, even if they don’t specifically market goods or services to EU residents.

Adopted in April 2016, the Regulation came into full effect in May 2018, after a two-year transition period. The GDPR replaces the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC and is designed to:

The GDPR mandates that EU visitors to all websites must be given a number of data disclosures. Sites must also take steps to facilitate such EU consumer rights as timely notification in the event of personal data being breached (breach notification). Among others, the GDPR mandates the user’s right to access their data and the right to be forgotten. In addition, the conditions for consent have been strengthened, and companies are no longer able to use long, illegible terms and conditions full of legalese. Also, it must be as easy to withdraw consent as it is to give it.

eIDAS Regulation and Digital ID Trends

The electronic Identification, Authentication and Trust Services regulation (eIDAS) is a set of EU standards and regulations for electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the European Single Market. It was established in the EU Regulation as of 23 July 2014, relating to electronic identification, and repeals directive 1999/93/EC from December 1999. It entered into force on 17 September 2014 and applies from 1 July 2016 except for certain articles, listed under its article 52.

In June 2021, the European Commission proposed an update to eIDAS that will enable every European to have a set of digital identity credentials recognised anywhere in the EU. With eIDAS 2.0, by 2024, all EU member countries must make a digital identity wallet available to every citizen who wants one. Many digital ID schemes operate on the basis of super-secure passwords and/or mobile apps confirmed by a second factor, either passwords or one-time token or biometric factors such as fingerprints.

Digital ID in Europe has been proliferating rapidly in recent years. To date, both the nature of these schemes and their application have varied widely – for example, BankIDs in the Nordics being used to support instant payments and the delivery of harmonised government services.

In August 2021, the government of Romania began issuing electronic ID cards in accordance with EU Parliament and Council regulations concerning the security of EU citizens’ ID cards and residence documents. Local authorities began to issue eID cards in August 2021 with the aim to replace existing identity documents with fully electronic IDs by August 2031. In January 2023, the government announced its intention to issue electronic IDs to 8.5 million Romanian citizens and that the cost of issuance would be covered by the Romanian state budget. As of January 2024, the national implementation experienced delays due to logistical challenges, including issues with external suppliers. The complete national rollout is now anticipated by the end of 2024, contingent upon the resolution of existing challenges.

Legislative background – EU 

As an EU member state, Romania has adopted the second payment services directive, PSD2, as well as its consumer data protection regulation, GDPR. Romania has also implemented the EU’s series of anti-money laundering directives (AMLD), the most recent of which, AMLD6, aims to harmonize criminal liability related to money laundering and terrorist financing across the bloc. Single European Payments Area (SEPA) legislation has replaced domestic account-to-account methods for cross-border payments in Euro, while the country has also adopted EU legislation related to consumer rights, card interchange fees, and domestic banking laws.

Other EU-level legislation relevant to digital commerce includes the Digital Operations Resilience Act (DORA), due to be implemented in January 2025, and the forthcoming third payments services directive, PSD3 – due around 2027. DORA will seek to protect financial institutions operating in the EU against cyber-attack by extending the responsibility for cyber-security not just to banks themselves, but to their commercial partners and suppliers, while PSD3 is likely to extend existing consumer protections related to digital transactions and enhance existing strong customer authentication (SCA) requirements. However, the most significant legislative development from an EU perspective is, without doubt, eIDAS 2.0.

eIDAS 2.0 – the next stage

First passed into law in 2014, the EU’s existing electronic Identification, Authentication and Trust Services regulation (eIDAS) established standards for electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions across all 27 member states. In June 2021, the European Commission proposed an update to eIDAS, known as eIDAS 2.0, that will enable every EU citizen to have a set of digital identity credentials recognized anywhere in the bloc. The legislation was confirmed in 2023 and is expected to enter force by January 2025.

By the end of 2024, all EU member states must make a digital identity wallet available to every citizen, based on super-secure passwords and/or mobile apps confirmed by a second factor, either passwords, one-time tokens or biometric factors such as fingerprints. As a central element of the EU’s digital strategy, this wallet will allow citizens to execute digital signatures on documents anywhere in the EU free of charge and will also enable users to permit access to medical information and professional qualifications. For example, the legislation will allow the “EU ID wallet” mobile application to have contactless access to external identification credentials.

After 2025, banks will need to be ready to acquire and process transactions using national-level digital wallets that confirm to eIDAS 2.0 standards. In what follows, we track the history of digital ID in Romania – and current legislative action to make the EU’s plans comprehensive digital ID a reality.

Digital ID in Romania: legal framework and history

As far back as 2001 (), the CIA and FBI uncovered mass fraud events in Europe, Australia and the USA related to forged or tampered Romanian passports and national identity cards. Faked identities originating in Romania were linked to hacking attempts in the US (), cyber fraud (), and Australia’s largest-ever credit card fraud operation ().  Problems linked to ID fraud have not gone away, and indeed during the pandemic, account hacking, fraud attempts, or security breaches increased by 70% in Romania ().

To help fight fraud originating in the country, the Romanian government has set up a series of initiatives with the European Union designed to reduce both individual, corporate and state-level fraud crimes. These include () the DNA, which aims to eliminate the embezzlement and misuse of EU funds at a regional and national level, and the DLAF, a correspondent body of the European Anti-Fraud Office in Romania.

In August 2021, the government of Romania began issuing electronic ID cards in accordance with EU Parliament and Council regulations concerning the security of EU citizens’ ID cards and residence documents. Local authorities began to issue eID cards in August 2021, aiming to replace existing identity documents with fully electronic IDs by August 2031. In January 2023, the government announced its intention to issue electronic IDs to 8.5 million Romanian citizens at the expense of the state.

At the present time, with the Romanian Digitalization Agency (ADR) and its Centralized Digital Identity Platform still in the process of being created, there is a significant proliferation of private-sector digital ID schemes that aim to secure transactions and enable safe flows of information between government, business and state institutions such as healthcare and education providers. The next section of this report outlines some of these initiatives.

Current implementations

As part of the overall effort to combat fraud while offering customers the convenience and speed of digital, Online Account Opening (OAO) and Online Contract Signing (OCS) including identity verification have accelerated in recent years. A growing number of players offer these services with ID verification in financial services, insurance and utilities. This usually involves video identification confirmed by a live operator during business hours – though friction is significant and wait times can be over 15 minutes.

While platforms such as ghiseul.ro aim to integrate private individuals’ property tax, fines, and public services payments, much work remains to be done in securing identity and facilitating dialogue between Romania’s public services such as tax, health, education, policing and more.

Schemes are emerging to create a trusted digital identity in Romania, such as sunt.io, co-founded by Lendrise and IT Smart Systems. This cloud-based solution claims to be based on the EU’s standards for eIDAS 2.0 and best-in-class identity verification techniques. It says its customers will be able to initiate Online Account Opening (OAO) and Online Contract Signing (OCS) instantly, as well as authenticating themselves securely for digital transactions.

In July 2020, Romanian FinTech firm PayByFace launched biometric facial recognition payments with the Tucano coffee shop chain in Romania, in collaboration with Romanian online card payment processor Euplatesc. The contactless payment system enables any customer to complete a transaction without using a phone, card, or cash. Customers can sign up for the service regardless of the mobile phone model they use, or what bank issued their payment card, by downloading the PayByFace Consumer app from Google Play or the iOS App Store.

In August 2020, PayByFace enabled Up Romania meal and gift cardholders to make payments with biometric facial recognition by having their face scanned in affiliated stores and restaurants. Up’s customers can now pay by phone via Apple Pay, without their phone, via PayByFace and will be able to carry out direct payment from their Up Mobil app, through an Up Romania-developed e-wallet. Future plans include rolling out biometric payment technologies in stores across Romania throughout 2022. Most recently, Monentum and IT Smart Systems launched an Identity-as-Code solution for Romania in late 2023. Based on eIDAS 2.0 standards, this solution aims to provide rapid sign-in and ID verification for business and government applications.

Future Perspectives

While competing digital ID and biometric verification solutions are emerging in Romania, there remains a requirement for a comprehensive digital ID solution similar to Norway’s BankID or Denmark’s MitID that can make access to both commercial and governmental services faster, safer and easier for consumers. Doing so will dramatically reduce consistently high levels of fraud seen in Romania while reducing cost and improving the efficiency of service delivery across the board.

It’s likely that the introduction of a comprehensive digital ID solution will also enhance Romania’s international reputation and reduce risk for investors by making identity in Romania less susceptible to criminal abuse, cutting the capacity of Romanian criminal gangs to operate in other jurisdictions – as covered earlier in this report.

Biometric Authentication Services

As a form of digital identity, biometric factors have been gaining ground across Europe in recent years, especially since the EU mandated their use for national ID cards and passports from August 2021.

In the payments industry, European banks and other account servicing payment service providers (ASPSPs) have started to support new biometrics technology companies that will develop client identification and authentication systems. They will be dedicated to the research and development of software for the digital verification and authentication of personal identity, through facial, voice, image or document recognition, or fingerprint reading.

With the EU regulator’s decision to mandate Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) as part of the revised payment services directive, PSD2, biometric authentications look set to grow further in importance as part of the payments landscape.

Companies such as Sweden’s Fingerprints (for online payment ID) and the UK’s Fingopay (for physical payments) have pioneered their use in P2P and P2B transactions, while some national ID schemes such as BankID in the Nordics and nemID now include biometric factors alongside PIN in their log-in processes.

Among others, in 2024, payments-specific biometric initiatives and pilots in Europe include:

Mastercard Identity Check – In October 2016, Mastercard launched its biometric payment authentication service, Mastercard Identity Check in 12 European countries. European consumers can now validate online purchases using 2-factor authentication such as one-time codes sent by SMS or fingerprints in their mobile app.

In July 2020, Romanian FinTech firm PayByFace launched biometric facial recognition payments with the Tucano coffee shop chain in Romania, in collaboration with Romanian online card payment processor Euplatesc. The contactless payment system enables any customer to complete a transaction without using a phone, card, or cash. Customers can sign up for the service regardless of the mobile phone model they use, or what bank issued their payment card, by downloading the PayByFace Consumer app from Google Play or the iOS App Store.

An iPad configured for the PayByFace Merchant app scans the customer’s face using the standard device camera, converts it into an encrypted template, and searches for a match to a registered user in a local database. The payment is processed through the Euplatesc gateway with the tokenised version of the customer’s card on file.

In August 2020, PayByFace enabled Up Romania meal and gift cardholders to make payments with biometric facial recognition by having their face scanned in affiliated stores and restaurants. Up’s customers can now pay by phone via Apple Pay, without their phone, via PayByFace and will be able to carry out direct payment from their Up Mobil app, through an Up Romania-developed e-wallet. Future plans include rolling out biometric payment technologies in stores across Romania throughout 2022.

Banking Sector

Banca Nationala a Romaniei (BNR), set up in 1880, is the national central bank of Romania and supervises the banking sector within Romania. The legal framework in which Romanian financial institutions and companies operate is based on EU directives and Romanian banking laws.

On 4 November 2014, the European Central Bank (ECB), via the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), assumed the responsibility of supervising the financial stability of banks operating within the euro zone. However, while the ECB has final supervisory authority over all banks operating within the euro zone, it will only directly supervise those banks classified as ‘significant’ under the terms of the SSM (by September 2024, 113 significant banking groups have been recognised). All other ‘less significant’ banks continue to be supervised by BNR.

On the 29th of December 2018, the Romanian Government issued Emergency Government Ordinance 114/2018, a new tax specifically targeting the banking sector.  Starting in 2019, banks were to be subject to a tax on financial assets if their return on banking operations were above a 2% reference level, the quantum of the annual tax increasing incrementally depending on their profitability. Considering current levels of profitability, banks would be subject to a 1.2% annual tax on their financial assets. In other words, this means that banks would have to pay a 1.2% tax on all the loans they grant.

However, following the dismissal of the Romanian government in October 2019 after losing a no-confidence vote, and a subsequent January 2020 endorsement of the ordinance by the incoming government, in February 2020 Romania’s Senate rejected the emergency ordinance and reversed several provisions considered negative for Romania’s business environment.

According to RBI, the recovery of the Romanian economy lost steam in 2012. Key foreign banks continue to see Romania as a strategic market, but though there were also certain balance sheet adjustments, they are looking for opportunities and gaining some market share.

For the first time since 2009, the Romanian banking sector posted a profit in 2013 with 3.5%. Romanian GDP grew by 3.1% in 2014, by 3.9% in 2015, by 4.8% in 2016 and 7.0% in 2017, before decelerating to 4.1% by end 2018. In 2019, GDP grew by 4.1%, driven by strong private consumption, and growth for 2020 was projected to be around 7%. However, the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a decline in real GDP of 3.9% in 2020, less than that recorded EU-wide (down 6.1%). During 2021, economic activity posted robust growth (5.9%), allowing real GDP to surpass the pre-pandemic level. On the other hand, twin deficits remained elevated, and the inflation rate saw its upward trend steepen significantly in the final part of the year amid the heightening energy crisis at a European level. In 2022, GDP growth accelerated by 4.6% due to rising domestic demand with private consumption increasing by 5.5% and total investment by 8%. Growth was expected to decelerate to 2.2% in 2023, as tight financing conditions, relatively slow disinflation, and muted growth in trading partners are taking a toll on production output. By 2023, GDP growth slowed to 2.1% due to higher inflation and the attendant tightened monetary policy stance.

The annual inflation rate stood at 8.19% at end-2021 (versus 2.06% at end-2020), with about 80% of this rise coming from the hikes in prices of natural gas, electricity, and fuels, all of them exogenous components of the CPI. On the back of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, annual inflation rate in Romania worsened to 13.8% in 2022. In 2023, inflation eased to 10.4% due to lower energy prices and monetary policy measures.

Structure

In 2023, the number of credit institutions conducting banking activity in Romania remained unchanged throughout 2023. 32 banks were involved in payments in Romania, 24 of which were Romanian legal entities. These included 4 credit institutions with majority domestic private capital, 2 credit institutions with fully or majority state-owned capital and 18 credit institutions with majority foreign capital. Moreover, 8 branches of credit institutions had their head offices in other EU member states.

The market share in terms of net assets owned by credit institutions with majority domestic private capital increased to 20.7% in 2023 from 19.8% in 2022, and the market share of credit institutions with majority state capital increased to 13.7% in 2023 from 12.1% in 2022. At the same time, the share of credit institutions with majority foreign capital (excluding branches of foreign credit institutions) narrowed from 55.9% to 54.0%.

The market share of the top 5 banks was 61.38% of assets.

The largest banks in Romania are Banca Transilvania, BCR (Banca Commerciala Romana), owned by Erste Group), and BRD (Banca Romana Pentru Dezvoltare, owned by Société Générale). They have a market share of 43.7% of the total net assets in 2023.

ING Bank, UniCredit (I), OTP Bank, and Alpha-Bank (GR) are among other western banks with operations in Romania. CEC Bank (Casa de Economii si Consemnatiuni), which remains state-owned, has long been touted as being prepared for privatisation, but as of mid-2023, no progress had been made.

In May 2017, Patria Bank absorbed Banca Comercială Carpatica. In June 2017, Intesa Sanpaolo Group (I) took over Italian Veneto Banca’s Romanian branch, which became rebranded as the branch of Intesa Sanpaolo Group in Bucharest. In November 2017, the Romanian branch of Bank of Cyprus (CY) closed. In 2018, Banca Transilvania acquired BancPost and integrated it at end-2018.

During 2020, Eximbank acquired 99.28% in Banca Românească, a local subsidiary of the National Bank of Greece Group (January 2020).  A UK resident individual acquired a direct qualifying holding of 99.36% in the share capital of Banca Română de Credite și Investiții in March 2020. The merger between Bank Leumi România and First Bank was finalised at end-April 2020. Also, during 2020, an individual acquired a direct qualifying holding of 58.80% in the share capital of Banca Comercială Feroviară. In December 2020, the bank changed its name to Techventures Bank.

In the course of 2020, Hoist Finance of Sweden’s Bucharest branch was registered with the Credit Institutions Register. Concurrently, Bank Leumi România was taken off the register, as a result of the merger through absorption with First Bank, as well as Banca Cooperatistă Mureșul Târgu Mureș and Banca Cooperatistă Progresul Sibiu as a result of the merger through absorption with Banca Cooperatistă Alfa Târnăveni and Banca Cooperatistă 8 Martie Codlea respectively. Also in 2020, a branch of Bank of China (Central and Eastern Europe) Limited was opened in Romania.

In September 2021, Vista Bank acquired Credit Agricole Romania, while in November 2021, Banca Transilvania acquired 100% of shares held by Getin Holding Group in the share capital of Idea Bank. In this transaction, Banca Transilvania also acquired 100% of the share capital of the companies in the Idea Bank Group in Romania. In August 2021, Blom Bank France changed its name to Banque Banorient France S.A. – Romania branch. In 2021, PKO Bank Polski S.A. Warsaw – Bucharest Branch was registered as a branch in Romania of a credit institution based in another EU Member State. Concurrently, Banca Cooperatistă Creditec Tecuci and Banca Cooperatistă Dumbrava Scrioaștea were delisted as a result of the merger through absorption with Banca Cooperatistă Putna Focșani and Banca Cooperatistă Albina Slatina respectively.

In October 2022, Vista Bank completed the merger with Crédit Agricole România. In December 2022, the merger by absorption of Banca Românească by Banca de Export-Import a României EXIMBANK S.A. (a bank owned by Romania via the Ministry of Finance) was completed.

The territorial network of credit institutions shrank in 2023, amid the changes across the banking sector driven by the digitalisation trends in their activity and the completion of some mergers and acquisitions between such institutions. In May 2023, Banca de Export-Import a României EximBank S.A. (EXIMBANK S.A.) was rebranded as Exim Banca Românească S.A. and also changed its logo.

1 – Bank Sector Structure in Romania

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Note: Banca Centrală Cooperartistă (CREDITCOOP) is included under banks with majority domestic private capital.
Source: National Bank of Romania (BNR)

2 – Main Romanian Banks 2023

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Note: BNR figures have been converted into euros using the average exchange rate of €1 = RON 4.9467
Note: In 2018 Banca Transilvania integrated Bancpost.
Source: National Bank of Romania (BNR)

Banca Comercială Română (BCR), the second largest bank in terms of net assets (13.4%), reported 3.3 million customers and 318 branches in Romania at end-2023. Erste Group (A) owns 99.88% of the shares of BCR.

Erste became the biggest player in Romanian banking with its successful €3.75 billion tender in December 2005 for 62% of BCR. This ended the process initiated in November 2003, when 25% of BCR shares were sold to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and to the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation for €176 million, and another 8% to staff.

The extent of interest in BCR was demonstrated in July 2005 when AVAS, the Romanian Authority for State Assets Recovery, said that ten western European banks were short-listed as prospective buyers of BCR: Fortis; Millennium bcp; National Bank of Greece; Banca Intesa; Deutsche Bank; Erste Bank; Dexia; KBC; BNP Paribas; and ABN AMRO. The last two on the short-list were Erste, which was also short-listed for the CEC privatisation, and Millennium BCP.

As of 2023, BCR claimed the largest national network of nearly 2,000 ATM and multifunctional machines, and more than 13,000 POS terminals. BCR offers a wide range of banking services via Internet banking, mobile banking, phone banking and e-commerce.

BRD – Groupe Société Générale, the third-biggest bank in terms of net assets (10.1%). BRD reported 423 branches and 2.3 million active customers at end-2023. In 1998 Société Générale bought 51% of BRD and enlarged its ownership to 58.32% in 2004. In 2003, Romanian Bank for Development became BRD – Groupe Société Générale. In 2023, Société Générale had a 60.17% interest in BRD and other investors (39.83%) for the balance.

Banca Transilvania (BT), founded by businessmen in the city of Cluj in 1995, is the country’s largest bank and the biggest independent bank. In April 2015, BT bought 100% of Volksbank Romania from the Austrian Volksbank banks and absorbed it by end-2015. As of December 2023, the bank is 60.57% owned by Romanian investors and 39.43% owned by foreign investors.

BT’s branch network comprised 513 branches, agencies, and offices in Romania by the end of 2023. BT claimed a market share of 20.1% by total net assets. BT also reported 1,865 ATMs and more than 120,000 POS terminals at the end of 2023. BT served more than 4.2 million active retail clients over 440,000 active SME and Micro business clients and more than 12,000 active corporate and large corporate clients at end-2023, including the clients from Bancpost (see below.)

In 2018, Banca Transilvania and EBRD invested in Moldovian Victoriabank through VB Investment Holding (NL); owned by EBRD and Banca Transilvania (RO) with 72.19% are the major shareholders. Victor Turcan, the bank’s chairman holds 10.76% and other Romanian investors hold the balance. VB Investment absorbed the 12.5% stake of Alpha Bank Romania, the subsidiary of Alpha Bank Group of Greece and, in 2018, the 39.2% of the shares held by the Cyprian-registered Insidown Ltd that sold its stake to Banca Transilvania (RO).

In May 2018, Banca Transilvania acquired a 99.15% majority stake in Bancpost from Greek Eurobank EFG for an amount of €178.67 million. In October 2018, the BT shareholders approved the merger of the two banks at end December 2018. Bancpost had been a member of Eurobank EFG, since November 2003. In 2017, it reported 147 branches and more than 720,000 clients.

In March 2019, Banca Transilvania launched its BT Open Banking platform (BT API Store), which allows FinTechs and other technology companies to test integration with BT to present bank services, such as: online balance, transaction history, and the initiation of transactions through external platforms to Banca Transilvania.

During 2021, BT completed the transaction for the acquisition of the entire share package (100%) owned by Getin Holding Group in the share capital of Idea Bank, Idea Leasing IFN, and Idea Broker de Asigurare. The Group took control of these companies on October 29, 2021, when the consideration was transferred in exchange for the package of shares held by the Getin group. Idea Bank is the third bank purchased by BT, after Bancpost (2018) and Volksbank Romania (2015). Idea Bank will become a digital banking hub, beyond the scope of traditional commercial banks and continuing BT’s efforts of digitalising the services and products offered. BT signed an agreement with OTP Group in February 2024 to acquire OTP Bank Romania and its subsidiaries in Romania. The transaction was completed in July, after receiving the regulatory approvals. OTP Bank Romania has a 2.64% market share, more than 440,000 customers, 1,800 employees and almost 100 branches.

Banca Raiffeisen reported 284 branches in Romania at end-2023, with 2.28 million customers. In July 2002, Austrian Raiffeisen RZB together with the Romanian-American Enterprise Fund (RAEF) acquired the majority stake in Romanian Banca Agricola which was then rebranded as Banca Raiffeisen. In July 2013, Banca Raiffeisen absorbed Citibank’s Romanian consumer portfolio following the approval of the Competition Council.

In March 2018, Banca Raiffeisen announced the launch of Raiffeisenfactory.ro, a platform dedicated to financing start-ups. The bank said it will also start a competition for start-ups and will finance the best ideas and business plans with loans of up to €50,000.

UniCredit Bank (previously UniCredit Tiriac Bank) – Following integration of three separate banks during 2006 and 2007, UniCredit Bank almost doubled its distribution network in 2008, opening 101 new branches. The 2023 year-end total was 168 branches servicing more than 600,000 clients. UniCredit Bank also acquired the operations of the local branch of Banca di Roma.

UniCredit Bank Austria (50.61%) and Tiriac Group (45.06%) were the two major shareholders in UTB. In June 2015, UniCredit Group (I) bought the stake of Tiriac Group and became 98.3% owner of UTB which was consequently rebranded as UniCredit Bank.

In May 2013, UTB and UniCredit Consumer Financing took over the retail and royal preferred banking business of Royal Bank of Scotland Romania. The transaction represented about €315 million in assets and €230 million in liabilities and was completed in H2 2013 after the approval of the BNR and the Competition Council. The integration following the merger was complete by mid-2014. In August 2014, UniCredit Bank also acquired Royal Bank of Scotland’s corporate business division of RBS Romania.

Patria Bank (formerly Nextebank, MKB Bank Romania) is owned by Axxess Capital (RO/BG). At the end of January 2016, Nextebank acquired 54.79% of the shares of Banca Comercială Carpatica (BCC). In March 2016, the enlarged Nextebank became rebranded as Patria Bank. In May 2017, Patria Bank absorbed BCC. In 2023, the bank had 45 branches. At the end of 2023, Patria Bank owned 1 ATM in operation, 43 Euronet ATMs in Patria Bank’s locations and 7 Euronet ATMs in strategic locations. The bank also had 1,609 installed POS terminals.

Garanti Bank – Present in the Romanian market since 1998, Garanti Bank offers products and services for retail, SMEs, and corporate clients. The bank had a network of 71 branches and more than 460,000 clients in 2023.

As of 2021, Garanti Bank claimed a 5.2% market share in the number of POS devices and credit cards.

OTP Bank Romania, part of Hungarian OTP Group, completed its acquisition of Millennium Bank Romania from Portugal’s Millennium BCP group (P) in 2015. In 2023, OTP Bank operated 96 branches, and 156 ATMs in Romania and had a 2.5% market share by assets in the country, with 317,738 customers (Retail: 316,234).

In October 2022, OTP Bank introduced Google Pay services for Mastercard cardholders in Romania.

In February 2024, Banca Transilvania signed an agreement with OTP Group to acquire OTP Bank Romania and its subsidiaries in Romania. The transaction was completed in July, after receiving the regulatory approvals. OTP Bank Romania has a 2.64% market share, more than 440,000 customers, 1,800 employees and almost 100 branches.

Digital Banking 

All Romanian retail banks offer online banking services and mobile banking apps to their clients. Services available include balance and transaction reporting and payment initiation. At end-2023, only 22% of all Romanian people were e-banking users, according to Eurostat.

There is no bank-independent electronic banking standard in Romania; each bank offers its own proprietary system for corporate banking purposes. The bank independent MultiCash platform is widely used.

Mobile banking apps with added mobile money transfer services include PayPal.

As of 2021, as far as digitalisation was concerned, Romania ranked last among EU member states on digital public services and the use of internet services. The share of people who have never used the internet is still significantly higher than the EU average. In a similar vein, Romania also ranks last among EU countries on the share of individuals who use the internet for activities with certain economic characteristics such as online banking, online shopping, or selling online. By 2022, this narrative persisted as Romania ranks 27th of the 27 EU Member States in the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI). By 2023, there have been improvements in certain areas, but significant challenges remain. Only 28% of people have at least basic digital skills, below the EU average of 54% and the EU target of 80%. When compared to EU 2030 targets, this and other results suggest that Romanian authorities and all the stakeholders involved will need to make significant efforts to narrow these gaps.

Digital payments, digital fingerprint authentication and online banking services for granting new products (loans included) are some of the changes that have gained ground in 2021, aiming to improve the banking experience of customers and better meet their needs, as well as to increase the efficiency of banking activity based on streamlined cost management. According to a BNR survey, digitalisation expenses in 2017-2020 amounted to approximately RON 2.44 billion at the aggregate level of respondent banks, being particularly related to technological innovation projects, almost three quarters of which focused on customer relations. The budgeted digitalisation expenses accounted for around 50% of total such expenses recorded in the previous four years, confirming the significant pick-up in digital transformation.

Banca Comercială Română (BCR) – BCR’s intelligent banking platform George had 2.3 million users of which nearly 1.9 million were active users in 2023, up by 13.7% compared to 2022. George displays online a large number of retail banking products (current accounts, savings, credit, and insurances). In 2020 several unique products were launched on the George platform: online refinancing, online credit card, and online overdraft (launched at the end of 2020 – already 50% of credit cards and overdraft contracts were granted on a full digital flow). George Moneyback, the loyalty programme that offers money back in return, as discount, when customers use card payments reached 310,000 users in five months since launch. Over 95% of new savings accounts in 2020 were initiated through George. By 2023, George Moneyback had reached more than 1 million users, compared to 860,000 in 2022 and more than RON 21 million have been gained by BCR customers through the scheme.

BRD – In 2020, BRD launched the YOU application, which currently works in parallel with MyBRD services, and starting with 2021, it became the only remote banking application for BRD customers. In addition, BRD continued to launch new features such as Apple Pay, and the introduction of improved daily banking packages and new service model designed for each segment. Corporate clients’ digital experience was further enhanced by launching a new mobile app for corporates which offers real time access to accounts. As of end-2023, the mobile banking application, YouBRD, had more than 1.4 million users, a 33% increase from 2022 as the app was constantly enhanced with new functionalities.

During 2023, BRD reported a surge in digital adoption. The number of digitally active private individual customers increased by 20% in 2021, helped by its new mobile application, YouBRD, which was upgraded and enriched with new features. In addition, the digital offer to private individuals included two essential services, remote onboarding, and online consumer lending. In addition, the number of transactions was 12% higher than in 2021. As of 2021, BRD claimed 883,000 remote banking unique active customers.

Banca Transilvania – In 2020, Banca Transilvania (BT) launched Google Pay and a chatbot available through the messaging service WhatsApp, alongside a comprehensive range of payment alternatives, from physical card to digital card, BT Pay, Apple Pay, Fitbit Pay, Garmin Pay and contactless wearables. By 2023, BT reached 3.5 million unique cards in BT Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Fitbit Pay and Garmin Pay wallets. At the same time, transfers initiated from BT Pay became more popular, with their volumes increasing by 75% compared to 2022. The number of payments increased by 48% in 2023 by comparison with 2022.

As of 2023, BT had 3.7 million (2022: 3 million) digitalised customers, representing about 89% of the active clients using at least one of the bank’s digital solutions, BT Pay, internet banking, or mobile banking. At the end of 2021 there were approximately 1.8 million internet banking customers, about 29% more than in 2020. The volume of transactions through internet banking and mobile banking grew by 32% compared to 2021. No update was provided in 2023.

Banca Raiffeisen – In 2023, Banca Raiffeisen exceeded 1.4 million customers actively using digital channels, representing 62% of its customer base and a 159 increase in the number of digital clients. Banca Raiffeisen also eliminated paper-based payment orders for corporate clients, replacing them with electronic services.

Banca Raiffeisen’s customer enrolment can be done 100% online, by using the Smart Mobile app using a photo of the customer’s ID and a selfie. As of 2021, there were 1 million active users of the Smart Mobile app in 2021, an increase of 42% compared to 2020. By the end of 2023, there was an increase in the number of active digital, individual customers to 1.4 million who use mobile/internet banking apps monthly, with an average of 22 logins per client in a month. In June 2022, Raiffeisen Bank launched Raiffeisen Smart Market, the loyalty and reward application for its digital customers, which brings the Bank closer to its vision of becoming the preferred financial ecosystem in Romania. More than 600,000 users and over 120 merchants were gained by the Smart Market app by the end of 2023 and more than 21,000 banking products were sold through the App. At the same time, the number of digital payments made using the phone by Banca Raiffeisen customers increased by 87%. Banca Raiffeisen’s customers can pay with shopping cards and by phone via RaiPay on Android and Huawei, by Apple Pay on iOS. Garmin Pay is also available on Garmin watches. In February 2022, the bank launched a new RaiPay version, through which it introduced Raiffeisen Bank customers to disposable virtual cards for online payments. The Bank also launched an improved SmartToken activation flow (the application for authentication to the mobile/internet banking application and also transaction authorization).

In August 2022, Raiffeisen Bank introduced RaiPOS (SoftPOS – Soft Point of Sale) – the application that turns a phone or tablet into an electronic card payment terminal allowing SME customers to use their phone or tablet as a payment terminal (POS) for their services and products. In 2023, more than 17,000 new SME merchants used the acceptance solutions (POS, RaiPOS, E-commerce) and registered revenue volumes of over RON 4.9 billion, an increase of 45% compared to 2022. The Bank also obtained accreditation from The Authority for the Digitalization of Romania for the remote identification solution related to customer digital enrolment (the process of current account opening through video identification) which is now available in the Smart Mobile app for private individuals.

To improve the customer experience from the perspective of transactions, Raiffeisen Bank launched the instant payment service for individuals in 2022. Thus, customers can send or receive money instantly, to or from any of the banks participating in the Instant Payments system. In just four months after its launch, Raiffeissen Bank reached a market share for the instant payments category of 22.77%.

In April 2023, Raiffeisen launched Google Pay feature on cards to enable the bank’s customers make payments with their phone using Google Pay on Android, Apple Pay on iOS and Garmin Pay on Garmin watches.

UniCredit – In 2020 UniCredit’s digitisation efforts focused on digital approval and signatures, upgrading infrastructure and optimising front end systems. Online banking app functionalities were improved by introducing utility payments based on templates, and new app versions of mobile banking (for individuals) and Business Mobile (for companies) were launched. In 2020, UniCredit also launched Google Pay; MCash, for cash withdrawals from UniCredit Bank’s ATMs using mobile phones; and digital signature for companies.

ING Pay in Romania – During 2020, ING launched the first native mobile technology version of the Home’Bank application, which led to a significant increase in its speed and functionality. As of Q3 2023, ING Home’Bank access increased by 16% and the application was used daily by 82% of active individual customers (vs. 78% in Q3 2022), of which 88% exclusively via mobile phone (vs. 84% in Q3 2022). ING was also one of the first banks to offer customers the opportunity to register their ING cards in Google Pay, complementing the already functional Apple Pay and ING Pay wallets. In 2022, ING launched a dedicated offer for young people: Free@ING, which includes a current account, card and Home’Bank for young people under the age of 24, with no fees and no administrative costs. Also, ING customers can digitally split the bill or invoice using a new functionality introduced in Home’Bank. This new functionality is available in the payment’s menu of the mobile banking app and can be used for any type of shared spending: restaurant, movies, gas station, travel and more.

In 2021, ING Home’Bank was enhanced with new products and services, including virtual cards, paying by phone number through AliasPay. According to the bank, one in six Romanians has their salary at ING, and one in five transactions made with a bank card in Romania is made with an ING card.  Since October 2021, 64,000 virtual cards have been issued, equivalent to 320 kilograms of plastic.

OTP Bank – In 2020, OTP Bank Romania accelerated portfolio digitisation, including the launch of the new versions of OTPdirekt and SmartBank; the Octavian chatbot, a digital assistant for customers; and mobile payments for Android and iOS devices. OTP Bank Romania also implemented a new online onboarding procedure, so that new individual customers could open a new account in a fully digital manner.

During 2020, OTP also launched an app that allows the transformation of the mobile phone into a POS for accepting card payments or granting personal loans 100% online.

In 2020, the number of OTPdirekt Internet Banking users was 143,921, while the number of OTPdirekt users was 122,851. The number of transactions through OTPdirekt Internet Banking was 3,086,406 by the end of 2020. During 2020 the SmartBank application was used by 61,330 clients. Transaction volume through OTPdirekt Internet Banking in 2020 was €10,353,995,525.

PSD2 and the Open Banking Mandate

The adoption of the revised Payment Services Directive, PSD2, has set the stage for Open Banking in Europe, a European Open Banking Mandate with significant impact on the financial services industry. PSD2 challenges for banks and FinTechs include Open Banking, Open APIs, and the rollout of digital payment services and mobile apps.

PSD2 lowers the barriers for market entry to third-party service providers, FinTechs, and it opens up doors for innovative players to offer services that currently do not exist, e. g. account information services, third-party personal finance management, digital identity and KYC.

PSD2 is going to change the European payment and banking landscape and ultimately the position and role of banks in the ecosystem. FinTechs drive the change with the banking industry seeking the right strategy.

Post-PSD2, the key question for the financial service industry will be how to grant authorised access for their FinTech partners to bank account information, for instance secure access to account balance, payment data, credit risk and others.

For banks, the impact of the PSD2 is that they are no longer the only ones that have access to the bank customer information. Bank customers will now decide who they want to grant access to their payment information. Alongside this initiative, with new services based on access to bank accounts (XS2A), banks may lose the direct connection to their customers. To maintain their position in the new PSD2 reality, banks will need to adapt their business and operational models.

By mid-2024, notable challenges for the Romanian banking industry include:

In 2019, Banca Transilvania launched its BT Open Banking API platform, which allowed FinTechs and other technology companies to test integration with BT, offering banking services such as online display of balances, transaction history, and initiating transactions from external platforms to Banca Transilvania.

In June 2021, state-owned CEC Bank partnered with Romania-based Finqware to launch initiation of payments through Open Banking from accounts at other banks through its Mobile Banking app. The new functionality in the Mobile Banking app followed the March 2021 launch of CEC Bank’s Open Banking feature: viewing accounts and transactions from other banks and financial institutions.

CEC Bank’s Mobile Banking app saw a doubling of the number of users and an increase of more than 110% in the number of transactions in 2020.

About Open API Standards

In June 2017, The Berlin Group, the European payments interoperability coalition of banks and payment processors with membership comprising bank backed ACHs and industry bodies, announced it would push a single standard for API access to bank accounts (XS2A) compliant with the PSD2 regulation.

The Berlin Group says its NextGenPSD2 Initiative provides a harmonised API standard for accessing bank accounts. Built as an ‘Access to Account Framework’, The Berlin Group says the standard offers operational rules and implementation guidelines with detailed data definitions, message modelling and information flows based on RESTful API methodology.

As of the beginning of 2021, the Berlin Group NextGenPSD2 was implemented in all EU countries, in several non-EU countries in Europe and in countries outside Europe who are focused on maintaining reachability and compatibility with the European market. Around 80% of European banks and hundreds of third-party providers (TPPs) have implemented the Berlin Group NextGenPSD2 Framework. In 2021, the group was migrated to the Open Finance task force to explore use cases of Open Banking schemes and Open Finance schemes.

Among others, European Open API sets include Open Banking UK, Swiss Corporate API, and STET Open API (F, B).

As of 2023, there were 15 Open Banking bank and account providers in Romania, 1 third-party provider, 52 bank APIs and 19 API aggregators.

In October 2021, Smart FinTech became the first third-party provider licensed in Open Banking. After becoming the first authorised payment institution in Romania under the PSD2 European directive in April 2021, the start-up also received authorisation as an AISP from the BNR.

According to the Finqware platform, the first local banking data platform under the European PSD2 regulation, it registered over 10,000 active users of bank account query services and made over 18 million data calls to the APIs of Romania’s most important banks in the first 3 months of 2022. By 2023, Finqware achieved significant business growth, recording a fourfold increase in revenue compared to the previous year. This marked the company’s first year of profitability, with an EBITDA margin of 29%.

Payment Services

In Romania, the law on payment services adopted the EU payment services directive (PSD) and the EU interchange fee regulation (IFR). Romania also adopted the new PSD2 in October 2019, the last country in the EU to adopt the localised version.

In 2016, the BNR issued BNR Regulation No. 2/2016 on credit transfers and direct debits performed in Romania. The Regulation was aimed at updating the national legal framework for this type of payment instruments/services and harmonising it with the European legal framework for these operations.

In 2024, the more than 300 different payment services offered in Europe can be grouped into:

Card Brands and Card Types

At present, there is no national debit card scheme in Romania, and all retail banks issue debit cards and credit cards with Mastercard or VISA brands. The EMV migration of cards was completed in 2012.

Debit cards denominated in RON, the national currency, have been issued since 1997. In 2022, there were 34 issuers with VISA or Mastercard programmes. Cards can be issued in RON-, EUR- or USD-denominated versions, depending on the currency of the account to which they are linked; the majority are RON-denominated cards. Many cards branded Mastercard or VISA are debit cards. There are as well VISA Electron cards with credit card function.

Some debit cards denominated in RON can be used only inside Romania, while others can also be used abroad. As well as cash withdrawals at ATMs and POS payments, debit cards can also be used to pay telephone bills directly at ATMs. Most also have an overdraft facility, with limits set by the issuing bank. As in the rest of the CEE region, many debit cards are linked to company salary payment programmes.

Romanian card products like consumer cards, commercial cards and purchasing cards range from classic cards to gold cards and platinum cards. Additional card features (e.g. picture cards, bonus points, PIN selection at ATMs, cashback, card control by SMS notification and geo blocking) are used to attract cardholders. Also, individual picture cards and collector cards are issued on demand.

From July 2023, banks and other card issuers will no longer issue Maestro cards. Instead, they will need to issue Debit Mastercards. Maestro was launched in 1991, and it was the world’s first debit card that could be used via an online network. About 400 million Maestro cards are in circulation worldwide, mainly across Europe. However, Maestro is not enabled for the demands of e-commerce and cannot be used for online or in-app payments, hence the decision to phase it out in favour of Mastercard Debit products. Visa announced that Electron cards will be phased out globally in 2024. The features of the Visa Debit card have been modified to match the features of the Visa Electron card.

Debit cards issued are VISA Debit and Debit Mastercard cards. There are no V PAY cards in issue. Maestro cards have almost been completely replaced in Romania by Debit Mastercard cards.

Credit Cards issued are cards branded VISA and Mastercard. There are no American Express cards, JCB cards and no Diners cards in issue.

Prepaid Cards – Since 2009, bank prepaid cards are issued in Romania.

Co-branded cards – In Romania, several co-branded card products are in circulation. Co-branded cards are based on the international card brands Mastercard, VISA or Electron.

Romanian banks issuing co-branded cards together with their non-bank partners include BCR, BRD, UniCredit, Banca Transilvania, and Raiffeisen. Romanian banks also issue private label store cards on behalf of retailers, petrol companies and other non-banks.

Co-brand partners include mostly retailers, car manufacturers, mobile network operators like Vodafone and Automobile Club Romania.

In 2001, Banca Tiriac (now UniCredit Bank) issued the first co-branded card in Romania, a Metro Group Cash&Carry Maestro cards. In 2003, Banca Transilvania issued the first co-branded VISA card, a Maxishop Electron card with retailer Maxishop. Raiffeisen issues a co-branded credit card with telecom company Vodafone.

In 2017, Romania’s largest online retailer eMag launched a co-branded card with Raiffeisen Bank. Customers can use the card to acquire products in up to 24 monthly installments without an interest rate. They receive loyalty points of up to 10% of the products’ value for using the card. The card can be used to make interest-free purchases from all the Raiffeisen Bank partners enrolled in the Multishop programme.

Contactless Cards and form-factors

The roll-out of Romanian contactless cards with PayPass (2010) or payWave function (2011) continued and achieved 99.6% of the total card base at end-2023, up from 99.1% in the previous year, according to the BNR. BRD and BCR were the first issuers, followed by most other banks.

Predefined contactless limits – Contactless payments for purchases below a predefined contactless limit are without PIN or signature and without transaction receipt. In Romania, the contactless limit for payments without PIN/signature was set at RON 100 for cards with PayPass or payWave function. In April 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the limit was raised to RON 200 to encourage more non-cash transactions.

According to the BNR, since the COVID-19 outbreak in Romania in spring 2020, the share of respondents who paid in cash decreased from 45% to 21%. At the same time, the percentage of people using contactless card payments increased from 50% to 59%.

In February 2022, BCR signed a contract with the Bucharest Transport Company (STB), the operator of the overground public transport, to expand the smart contactless payment system to all buses, trams, and trolleybuses in the city. BCR’s contactless solution allows the use of a transport or bank card, as well as a smartphone or smartwatch, to pay for travel. Besides Bucharest, BCR introduced the contactless payment solution in 15 other cities in Romania. Also, in partnership with Metrorex, BCR has implemented a similar system in all subway stations in Bucharest.

Interchange Fee Arrangements

International and Intra European Non-EEA Interchange Fees are set by the members of the international card schemes to be applied in case of cross-border transactions or foreign cards used in Romania, respectively. The effective rates of Mastercard and VISA can be found on the respective Mastercard and VISA websites.

In Romania, domestic Merchant Interchange Fee (DMIF) rates for Romanian cards is defined by Mastercard and VISA, respectively. The interchange fee regulation 2015/751/EU applies for Romanian card business.

The interchange fees for domestic card-based payment transactions on consumer cards are capped as follows:

Credit card payments:

Debit card payments:

For domestic transactions, the interchange fees range from 0.20% to 0.60%.

For domestic consumer prepaid and debit cards, the interchange fees typically range from 0.20% to 0.60%.

General Observations

It is noted that Romania has some of the highest interchange fees in Europe. For example, some reports indicate that the average interchange fee for debit cards in Romania can be around 1% for Visa and 1.2% for Mastercard, although these figures seem to be higher than the specific ranges provided by the card schemes. Romania, along with Croatia, has some of the highest average interchange fees in Europe. For example, Poland has the highest at 1.53%, followed by Croatia and Romania with rates ranging from 1.48% to 1.34%.

American Express – As a result of the EU regulation of interchange fees (IFR), American Express elected to exit all of its bank licensing arrangements in the European Union. This means that they have terminated all licenses with its existing EU partners, stopped issuing new cards and are in the final stages of the process of closing down all operations directly related to bank licensing. Over the course of 2019, American Express credit cards issued under independent operator agreements were rendered invalid in all countries of the European Union. Various banks that have up to now had exclusive licensing contracts with American Express have already responded accordingly and provided their clients with the opportunity to switch to other card brands.

From 2020, American Express Payments Europe is now the sole issuer and acquirer of American Express cards in Europe, including Luxembourg. However, American Express Payments Europe continues its local sales partner arrangements with local acquirers enabling the use of American Express cards at ATMs and POS terminals.

American Express cards are not as widely accepted in Romania as Visa and Mastercard. However, they can still be used in various locations, particularly in major cities and at certain businesses.

Some places that are known to accept American Express include:

Fees

When using an American Express card in Romania, there are several fees:

E-Money 

In Romania, the law on e-money services has adopted the e-money directive of the EU (EMD).

In 2023, there were two e-money institutions (EMIs) listed in the BNR register. In addition, 239 EMIs are operating in the country on a cross-border basis as of November 2024.

Additionally, software-based e-money e-/m-wallet services are also offered by international payment service providers and e-wallet issuers from the EEA region. They provided notification of operating in Romania under the EU passport system.

Prepaid Products –paysafecard (A) entered Romania and launched its prepaid product, paysafecard.

Digital Account-to-Account Payment Services 

In the Yearbooks, account-based payment services are classified as IBAN-based payment services in SCT/SDD format offered by banks or by independent payment initiation service providers (PISP).

Credit transfers are used for both high-value corporate and low-value retail payment transactions. Credit transfers can be paper based or automated. Electronic credit transfers are used by companies for salary and supplier payments. Paper-based credit transfers are commonly used for non-recurring retail payments.

Romania is a part of the SEPA initiative for EUR-denominated retail payments. All banks in Romania participate in the SEPA Credit Transfer Scheme (SCT).

Direct debits are available in Romania and used for low-value recurring payments such as utility bills. SEPA Direct Debit Schemes (SDD Core and B2B) were launched on 2 November 2009, and the Romanian banks migrated to SDD before 31 October 2016.

Instant payments (SCTINST) is the IBAN-based immediate payment scheme in Europe, officially launched in November 2017. It makes funds immediately available to the beneficiary – compliant with existing SCT infrastructure. The regulators will require all banks to offer Instant Payments from 2018.

Among others, the characteristics of SCTINST include an initial maximum of €15,000 with the funds made available on the beneficiary’s account in less than ten seconds, 24/7/365 real-time processing, and immediate refunds in the case that the SCTINST payment was not successful. From July 2020, the maximum amount for instant payments will be €100,000.

Chaired by the ECB, in 2014, the Euro Retail Payments Board (ERPB) identified the need for a pan-European instant euro payment solution. In April 2016, EBA Clearing started the SCTINST project with more than 40 large European banks involved. In November 2016, the European Payments Council (EPC) published the SCTINST scheme and SCTINST rule books version 1.0 while the ERPB provided the governance model. In November 2017, EBA Clearing completed the pan-European instant payments infrastructure, RT1.

SEPA credit transfers and direct debits can be settled on a same-day or next-day basis. In 2019, about 50% of all IBAN-based payments in Europe were processed intra-day, or even immediately inside of the same bank group. Potential first use cases for SCTINST in Romania may include P2P, mobile banking apps, online payments, and B2B.

As of May 2024, 2,295 banks from 36 European countries had registered for the SCTINST scheme. This represents 63% of all SCT scheme participants.

In 2020, the BNR endorsed updated SENT payment system rules for the implementation of the auxiliary application AliasPay, as a facility integrated for instant payments. AliasPay is an app which allows the payer to initiate a payment based on an alias (mobile phone number) to which the IBAN account number of the payee is connected. This alias must be registered in the app beforehand by the payment service provider of the payee. Thus, upon initiating a payment, the payer does not have to know and give the payment service provider the IBAN account number and the name of the payee; the payment shall be made by using only the phone number associated with the IBAN account of the payment recipient.

As in many European countries, bank transfers have been adopted for online payments, enabling consumers to pay direct from their bank account as an alternative service to payment cards.

Account-based payment service brands offered in Romania include Klarna.

In November 2024, the BNR reported 320 cross-border payment institutions licensed in Romania. Authorised in another EEA member state, cross-border PISPs have provided notification of operating in Romania under the EU passport system.

Advanced Payment Services

In the Yearbooks, advanced payment services are classified as online wallets, e-wallets, and/or mobile wallets with any type of payment service chosen by the wallet user to complete the payment.

In selected Romanian online shops, the wallets PayPal, Skrill and Webmoney are offered as payment means.

PayPal – PayPal is available in Romania. As of end-2023, PayPal reported more than 431 million active customer accounts globally, down 0.91% from 435 million in 2022.  During 2022, PayPal added approximately 8.6 million net new active accounts, ending the year with 435 million active consumer and merchant accounts. PayPal’s total payment volume increased to $1.52 trillion in 2023 (up 11.7% from $1.36 trillion in 2022) and customer engagement grew to an average of 58 transactions per active account, driving 13% growth in transactions per active account at the end of 2023.

During 2020, with consumers worldwide embracing digital wallet capabilities, the company launched several related services including QR Code Checkout, Buy Now Pay Later, Crypto purchasing and Xoom direct transfers to bank accounts and debit cards.

In June 2018, PayPal continued its shopping spree with a $400 million cash deal to acquire e-commerce platform Hyperwallet. The acquisition followed deals to buy Venmo, Xoom, Sweden’s iZettle (renamed Zettle) for $2.2 billion and AI-based merchant marketing outfit Jetlore, as Paypal bids to extend its reach to all corners of the payments market.

In May 2022, PayPal Ventures invested in Modulr, an embedded payments platform for digital businesses, as part of a $108 million Series C funding round led by General Atlantic, Blenheim Chalcot, Frog Capital, and Highland Europe. Modulr delivers payments infrastructure for over 200 top-tier customers, including Revolut, Wagestream, Sage and BrightPay, and processes an annualised transaction value of more than £100 billion.

In 2023, PayPal is exploring the sale of Xoom, its international money transfer subsidiary, in a bid to cut costs and focus on high-growth business areas. Also, Stax Payments – an all-in-one payment provider for businesses – announced its partnership with PayPal in July 2023. This partnership will allow PayPal’s users to easily make payments with more than 20,000 merchants of Stax through a fast checkout process as well as new payment options such as Buy-now-pay-later solutions.

In 2023, PayPal launched its own US dollar-denominated stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD), which is fully backed by US dollar deposits, short-term US treasuries, and similar cash equivalents and designed for digital payments and Web3. Eligible US PayPal customers who purchase PayPal USD will be able to transfer the token to external wallets, send person-to-person payments, fund purchases at checkouts supported by PayPal, and convert cryptocurrency holdings to and from PayPal USD.

In January 2024, PayPal launched AI-powered features to drive personalised offerings for both merchants and customers based on the data it possesses. These features include Smart Receipts (for merchants) which predicts what shoppers may want to buy next from the merchant. The merchant can then offer personalised recommendations, and cashback offers on this receipt. A major feature for users is CashPass which will use give users personalized cashback offers based on an AI analysis of their spending activity.

In March 2024, PayPal launched a complete suite of payment processing tools for online small businesses in the UK, Canada, and across more than 20 European markets. The PayPal Complete Payments package enables small businesses to accept an expanded range of payment instruments including PayPal, buy now pay later, Apple Pay, Google Pay, credit and debit cards, and alternative payment methods from around the world. By April 2024, PayPal added new features to its complete payments solution for small businesses to enable small businesses to accept a range of payments including PayPal, Venmo and PayPal Pay Later products. PayPal also gave small businesses access to four new features to help them drive payment acceptance and enhance how they run their business, and this will include Apple Pay as a checkout option.

Amazon Pay – In 2016, Amazon (US) launched its checkout payment service, Amazon Pay, enabling customers to pay for goods and services in participating third-party merchant websites. All active Amazon account holders can use Amazon login and password at the checkout. More than 50 million customers have used Amazon Pay to make purchases globally, with more than half of these coming from Amazon Prime Members.

Digital Payment Services

In the Yearbooks, digital payment services are classified as card-based payment services using EMV tokenisation security on the internet combined with HCE NFC technology in the case of contactless payments at POS terminals.

In May 2015, Banca Transilvania and Mastercard launched the digital wallet MasterPass in Romania, followed by BCR in August 2015. With MasterPass, consumers can securely store Mastercard and other branded credit, debit and prepaid card information, along with shipping addresses, all in one place, so that they can be easily accessed during checkout.

As at mid-2024, the Click to Pay online payment checkout service was available, replacing the previous MasterPass and VISA Checkout services respectively. Click to Pay is a joint service between Mastercard, Visa, Discover and American Express, enabling consumers to make secure one-click payments without having to enter card details or passwords online.

Contactless payments on cards using Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, or Google Pay (previously Android Pay) made by foreign users at contactless POS terminals in Romania are processed as payments on contactless cards.

Global contactless transaction values will reach $10 trillion by 2027, up from $4.6 trillion in 2022, with contactless mobile and wearable payments expected to grow by 221% and contactless card payments by 119% over the same period.

Contactless ticketing spend will increase by more than 440% globally between 2022 and 2027, with growing prominence and support for OEM pay solutions, such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay being a key enabler for mobile NFC ticketing across many markets.

Overall growth in contactless transaction values will be catalysed by growing mobile payments adoption, with 99% of all smartphones capable of making contactless payments by 2027, up from 94% today, and average transaction values for Apple Pay reaching $28.20 and $33.40 for Google Pay.

Apple Pay has become one of the world’s most used digital payment methods. Its user base increased from 521.4 million to 535.8 million in 2022. By 2024, the total number of Apple Pay users was estimated at 640 million and is projected to exceed 700 million by 2027,

According to Apple’s Q2 last 2022, they saw a record of transactions with more than 1.8 billion processed during the quarter, up 40% year-over-year. This payment method is also available in over 90% of the US and 60% of stores globally.

Apple Pay is the #1 most popular digital wallet with a 92% market share, processing a global total of $6 trillion in payments in 2022 and produced a revenue of $1.9 billion.

As of 2023, Apple Pay processed 14.2% of all online consumer payments and 3.5% of all in-store purchases.

Around 51% of global iPhone users have enabled Apple Pay in 2022. There are 10 million Apple Pay-friendly contactless payment terminals worldwide.

The transactions made using Apple Pay are mostly in-store purchases, online transactions, and peer-to-peer payments. It is trendy for contactless payments, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2024, an estimated 60.2 million Apple Pay users in the United States; projections indicate that over 75 million consumers will use Apple Pay by 2030. Putting it all together, Apple Pay is increasingly becoming an effective customer acquisition and retention feature for Apple. In June 2022, Apple Pay added Apple Pay Later, its buy-now-pay-later service, allowing users to split purchases into four equal instalments with no interest or fees. Initially launched in the US, the service is expected to roll out to other countries during 2023. In 2023, Apple launched its Card savings account from Goldman Sachs with a 4.15% annual percentage yield. Apple Wallet users can set up and manage a savings account directly from Apple Card in Wallet, with no fees, no minimum deposits, and no minimum balance requirements.

As of November 2024, Apple Pay was available in Romania from 49 banks and payment providers.

Google Pay has 150 million users across 42 global markets.

In January 2022, it was reported that the company was planning to transform Google Pay into a “comprehensive digital wallet”, following the app’s reported slow growth and the shutdown of Plex. In April, it was reported that Google was planning to revive the “Google Wallet” branding in a new app or interface and integrated it with Google Pay. Google officially announced Google Wallet on May 11, 2022, at the 2022 Google I/O keynote. The app began rolling out on Android smartphones on July 18, replacing the 2018 app and co-existing with the 2020 Google Pay app in the US. While the app name itself was changed from Google Pay to Google Wallet, the service name of actually paying for things online or in-store remains as “Google Pay.”

In the US, Google Pay has over 25.2 million users.  Also, Google Pay is used on nearly 800,000 websites as a secure payment gateway. Roughly 20% of all mobile purchases are made using this digital payment processor.

As of November 2024, Google Pay was available from 44 banks and payment providers in Romania.

Samsung Pay is available in 29 countries worldwide and has an estimated 140 million users. Samsung Pay works with Galaxy phones, including the latest Galaxy S22. Samsung claims that its system will work with almost all point-of-sale systems: NFC, magnetic stripe and EMV (Europay, Mastercard and Visa) terminals for chip-based cards.

In May 2020, Samsung Pay unveiled Samsung Money by SoFi, a mobile-first money management experience that makes available a cash management account and accompanying Mastercard debit card via the Samsung Pay app, in partnership with fintech company SoFi.

In June 2022, Samsung Pay was renamed to Samsung Wallet in the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. Along with the renaming came new features such as the ability to store digital assets, and digital keys within the Wallet app.

Samsung Pay is not yet available in Romania.

Overview of Cashless Payments

Cash is the predominant means of payment in Romania. In 2023, cash withdrawals from ATMs declined by 0.45% in terms of volume and increased by 2.94% in terms of value.

In 2013, card payments became the dominant cashless payment instrument by number in Romania. In 2023, they accounted for 76.61% of all cashless payments compared to 62.34% across the EU27 and showed a compound annual growth rate of 26.58%, since 2019.

However, credit transfers (22.10%) are still dominant in terms of value and increased in number by 19.42% in 2023 over 2022.

Cheques are typically used almost exclusively for business-to-business payments. As of end-2023, cheques (0.02% of non-cash transactions) were not deemed to be statistically significant as a payment instrument in Romania.

In 2023, there were 140.2 cash-less payments per capita composed of 108.2 card payments, and 31.2 credit transfers. The number of credit transfers per capita has increased in recent years – the per capita increase may be attributed in part to a declining population.

3 – Cashless Payment Transactions in Romania

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Note: totals include “other payment services”, i.e. bills of exchange.
Source: ECB, BNR.

Exchange Rates

Romania’s currency is the Leu (plural: Lei). As of July 2005, the Leu, previously coded as ROL, was redenominated so that ROL 10,000 was exchanged for 1 new Leu, coded as RON. The ROL was withdrawn from circulation at end-2006. The RON was targeted at approximately 3.6 to the euro. However, the RON was 4.9467 to the euro in 2023.

4 – Average Exchange Rates

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Source: ECB.

Market Infrastructure

Together with Bulgaria, Romania joined the EU in 2007. Steps taken to upgrade infrastructure before joining included the sale of banks to western counterparts to modernise the country’s payment system.

ReGIS is the national RTGS of payments in domestic currency provided by the BNR. The system is used for the settlement of central bank operations, interbank transfers, as well as of urgent or large-value payments in RON above 50,000. ReGIS ensures the real-time processing (on a continuous basis) and the settlement in the central bank money, with immediate finality.

At end-2023, ReGIS counted 40 participants, out of which: 32 credit institutions, the BNR, the State Treasury, and six ancillary systems (SENT, SENT‑PI, SaFIR, RoClear, VISA, and Mastercard). The volume of payments settled in ReGIS went up by 10.04% to 10.30 million and the value of payments settled in ReGIS increased by 55.61% to RON 25.20 billion in 2023 against 2022, while the average value per transaction increased by approximately 41.42% to RON 2.45.

At end-2023, the participants in TARGET2-Romania included 21 (namely 18 credit institutions , the ancillary system SENT, run by TRANSFOND, the Central Depository and the BNR), 19 T2S DCA holders for T2-RTGS Securities, 10 T2S DCA holders for T2 services, TIPS DCA holder. In 2023, the volume of payments settled in TARGET2-Romania rose by 12.7% from 2022 to 160,231, while their value decreased slightly by 0.5% from 2022 to RON 175.45 billion.

At end-2023, SaFIR counted 34 participants, out of which: 29 credit institutions, the BNR, the Ministry of Finance, and 3 securities depository and settlement systems – the Central Depository, Clearstream Banking, and Euroclear Bank.

The Central Credit Register (CCR) 

At end-2023, 111 reporting institutions, of which 32 credit institutions and 79 non-bank financial institutions (as compared with 32 credit institutions and 73 NBFIs at end-2022) reported credit risk information to the CCR.

The indicators relevant for assessing the lending activity of the reporting institutions to the CCR posted positive dynamics in 2023. Specifically, the number of borrowers, the number of loans and commitments, and the amounts due rose by 9.0%, 9.4%, and 15.5%, respectively.

TransFonD

Banca Nationala a Romaniei (BNR), the central bank, licenses all commercial banks and was instrumental in 1999 in setting up TransFonD, which became operational in early May 2001, with the mandate of managing the interbank electronic payment system. In 2023, BNR owned one-third of TransFonD shares and 18 commercial banks owned the remaining two-thirds.

The main line of business of TransFonD is to provide clearing and settlement services of cashless payments in national currency for credit institutions, BNR, the State Treasury and other financial institutions. TransFonD’s principal responsibility is to manage SENT, the national system for multilateral netting of lei-denominated interbank payments. Card payments are cleared by VISA and Mastercard, not by SENT.

In November 2012, TransFonD went live as CSM processor for SEPA Credit Transfers (SCT), and in April 2016, TransFonD became CSM processor for SEPA Direct Debits (SDD).

In 2018, TransFonD launched instant payments in Romania. In September 2020, TransFonD launched AliasPay mobile instant payments, allowing customers of different banks to make instant mobile money transfers, with the launch of the AliasPay service for end consumers on 18 March 2021, together with Banca Transilvania and CEC.

In 2023, SENT recorded 158.2 million total transactions worth ROB 564.4 billion. The volume of the operations processed in the Instant Payments Component of the SENT system in RON increased in 2023 by more than five times compared to the previous year to 75.1 million operations. This is due to the joining of participants with significant market shares and promotion of this product by participants, in H2 2022, but also in 2023.

EACHA – In June 2015, TransFonD (RO), DIAS (GR), Equens (NL), Iberpay (E), ICBPI (I) and KIR (PL) – all members of the European Automated Clearing House Association (EACHA) – joined forces to deliver centralised and optimised processing services for SEPA transactions. For this purpose, they have set up a new company called European Clearing Cooperative (ECC). The objective of ECC is to strengthen interoperability and further increase efficiency in the Single Euro Payments Area through a shared service platform in TARGET2. The six entities together with the CSMs operated by three central banks – Banca d’Italia, Deutsche Bundesbank and Oesterreichische Nationalbank – intend to process their cross-ACH transactions.

Card Issuers – Overview

The Romanian banks issue credit cards, charge cards, debit cards and prepaid cards in combination with bank accounts. Addressing the specific needs of personal banking and business banking, the card portfolio is composed of consumer cards, business cards and corporate cards.

Dedicated card products are offered for the individual client segments: families, millennials, students, affluent clients, small business clients, corporate clients and even basic account clients. The credit cards offered range from classic cards to gold cards and platinum cards.

All Romanian banks issue debit cards (Maestro, Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit, and Electron) and credit cards (Mastercard, VISA). BancPost was the American Express card issuer until 2017, and American Express is no longer bank-issued in Romania. Currently, no Diners cards are issued.

According to BNR, there were 34 card issuers operating in the Romanian card market of which 31 were banks, and three were non-bank financial institutions. Also, e-money institutions issue prepaid cards.

Leading issuers are BRD, BCR, Raiffeisen and Banca Transilvania/Bancpost. Other issuers include CEC, ING, UniCredit Bank, Alpha Bank, MKB Bank and OTP Bank. American Express Payments Europe now issues American Express cards on its own. Table 5 illustrates the card brands issued by the leading Romania card issuers as of mid-2024.

5 – Leading Card Issuers in Romania

[ninja_tables id=”4952″]

Source: PCM research.

Outlook – By mid-2024, Romanian card issuers face the following notable challenges:

Card Processors and PSPs

In Europe, the payment processing industry is composed of card processors, ATM/POS network hub processors, e-/m-payment service processors (PSPs), and specialised processors (e.g. CSM processors, TSM services).

In Romania, card issuer processing services range from technical issuer processing, including card printing, to full cardholder processing services. They include all types of cards and card technologies allowing for card use in multi-channels (i.e. at ATMs, POS terminals, on the internet and in-store mobile payments in the future).

Acquirer processing services in the country range from technical acquirer processing, including POS terminal services, to full merchant processing services. Usually, ATM/POS network processing is part of acquirer processing while payments on the internet are routed by specialised e-/m-payment service processors (PSPs) to the card acquirers and independent payment service providers (e.g. FinTechs like PayPal), respectively.

The major Romanian banks use in-house or bank group processors. Independent card processors are Romcard, Euronet Romania (PayNet), Global Payments, and SIA (I) through the former First Data from Bratislava. Originally, all offered issuer processing, but Romcard was the only acquirer processor.

In September 2020, following the collapse of Wirecard in June 2020, its Romanian unit was acquired by Portuguese payments processor SIBS. SIBS bought Romcard/Supercard to expand its presence in Central and Eastern Europe. According to SIBS, Romania was the seventh-largest European market for payment processing in 2020.

Among individual banks, Banca Raiffeisen’s ATM/POS networks and card processing is handled at intra-group processing centres in Bratislava (RPC) and Kiev (UPC). Also, UniCredit Bank has centralised some back-office operations in Romania.

Romcard had been a joint stock company set up in 1994. At end-2009, Romcard shareholders were BCR, BRD, Banca Raiffeisen, UniCredit Tiriac Bank and Financiara SA. In 2010, the ‘old’ shareholders sold most of their shares in Romcard to the new main shareholder – Provus Service Provider SA, which was 100% owned by Innova Capital and Izzet Cem Yenigul, up to 2015. In February 2016, Romcard with Provus were acquired by Wirecard. In June 2017, Romcard became Wirecard Romania. In September 2020, the Portuguese processor Sibs bought Romcard.

Romcard offers financial institutions e-commerce solutions, including online payments acceptance, payment processing services, virtual POS, tokenisation and authentication, switching and clearing and 3D Secure V2 services, PSD2-compliant, complete 3D-Secure services for issuing and acquiring banks, verified by VISA/VISA Secured and Mastercard Secure Code/Mastercard Identity Check and American Express Authentication, multifactor authentications and P2P money transfer services.

Romcard operates with a system built entirely in compliance with international standards and based on certificates received from Mastercard, VISA and American Express card associations. A special Romcard project is the Romcard e-wallet. It allows online buyers to store multiple cards into their Romcard e-wallet and make secure online payments using an alias for card details.

In December 2016, supermarket chain Carrefour Romania integrated Romcard’s e-wallet into its Carrefour Pay mobile app. In January 2017, the Romcard e-wallet integrated into the MasterPass platform of Mastercard.

In April 2016, Provus Group, which included Romcard and Supercard Solutions & Services, was acquired by Wirecard AG.

In September 2020, Romcard, along with Supercard Solutions & Services, was acquired by SIBS Group, a Portuguese payment services provider.

Current Status

As part of SIBS Group, Romcard continues to be a leading card processing company in Romania. SIBS Romania, which includes Romcard and Supercard Solutions & Services, offers a broad spectrum of payment solutions, including digital and e-commerce services, card personalisation, loyalty programs, and anti-fraud and cybersecurity services. This acquisition has strengthened SIBS’ presence in Central and Eastern Europe.

Provus – Like Romcard, Provus provides card transaction services, its domain of activity including cards transaction authorisation, database administration, national and international switching, cards transaction processing and settlement, also secure solutions for e-commerce services. Provus claimed to operate Romania’s largest processing centre. In February 2016, Wirecard AG acquired all shares of the Provus Group from Innova Capital (PL) for €32 million. In June 2017, Provus Service Provider became Wirecard Romania. In September 2020, the Portuguese processor Sibs bought Provus.

In mid-2018, processor Provus claimed to manage 1,500 ATMs and 13,000 POS terminals and to process 3,000,000 cards and 4,500,000 transactions per month. Subsequent updates were not provided by Wirecard Group before it went into insolvency in June 2020.

Provus Service Provider, now known as Wirecard Romania, is a significant player in the card transaction processing market in Romania. Here are some key statistics related to their transaction numbers:

Transaction Volume: Wirecard Romania processes over 9.5 million transactions per month in 2023.

Infrastructure and Services: The company manages over 1,500 ATM terminals and 22,000 POS terminals, which contribute to its high transaction volume.

Historical Context

Before the name change to Wirecard Romania, Provus Service Provider was already a major card processing company. For example, in the context of online transactions, the market saw significant growth, with online card transactions expected to increase by 30% in certain years, though this data is more specific to the broader market trends rather than Provus’s exact numbers.

These figures highlight the substantial role Wirecard Romania (formerly Provus Service Provider) plays in the Romanian card transaction processing market.

Euronet Romania – PayNet, acquired by Euronet Worldwide in December 2011, is an independent third-party processor with 20 banking clients, including ABN Amro, UniCredit Romania and non-banks, including the local Hilton and Marriott hotels. PayNet also has offices in Cyprus and Serbia, where clients include Société Générale Cyprus and Niska Banka.

Euronet services in Romania provides integrated ATM outsourcing services, card issuing and acquiring and POS merchant servicing solutions to financial institutions in Romania. Euronet Services is a certified VISA and Mastercard service provider. As of 2023, there were 500 Euronet ATMs in Romania.

SIA – First Data had a Pan-European processing contract with Société Générale, and it began providing processing services to BRD from its hub in Bratislava in 2005. In 2007, it also launched processing services for Cetelem Romania.

In May 2018, Italian processor SIA and First Data (US) signed an agreement for SIA to acquire First Data’s card processing businesses in parts of central and southeastern Europe for €387 million. In 2017, these businesses generated a combined revenue of €100 million for First Data. By end-September 2018, the transaction was concluded, after approval by the financial market regulators involved.

Including First Data Hellas, this acquisition by SIA provides card processing, card production, call centre and back-office services, including 13.3 million payment cards, 1.4 billion transactions, in addition to the management of 300,000 POS terminals and 6,500 ATMs. These businesses are primarily located in seven countries: Greece, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia.

First Data said it would remain highly committed to the European issuer processing business, maintaining its focus on serving its significant client base, primarily with its leading VisionPLUS platform.

In October 2020, Italian payment processor Nexi announced it would acquire SIA in a deal valued at $5.6 billion, creating the largest pan-European payment processor, with 2 million merchants, 120 million cards, and an overall number of processed annual transactions equal to more than 21 billion.

CRISP – Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) established a new regional centre – CRISP (Centralised Raiffeisen International Services & Payments) – in Romania in 2007, primarily for SWIFT transactions. As at end-2009, all its network banks other than Ukraine were connected to CRISP. The intra-group SWIFT Hub of the RBI Group serves as a basis for the centralisation of additional operations, starting with the central processing and routing of cross-border payments. Since 2009, CRISP is the shared service centre for RBI’s units in the CEE region.

Online Payment Service Processors (PSPs) 

Online payment service processors (PSPs) are specialised technical processors for all kind of secure online payments and mobile payments. Some of them also offer virtual PSP platform services (VPSP) for bank acquirers who want to take advantage of a kind of ‘internet network processor’.

Online shops of merchants are directly connected by an API interface or a hosted payment page either to the internet payment gateway of a bank acquirer, or they are connected to multi-acquirers through a PSP.

PSPs usually partner with more than one card acquirer and payment initiation service providers. Core services offered by PSPs may include payment gateways to card acquirers and other online payment service providers, online payment processing, risk management services, and collection services for merchants.

Security technologies applied to ensure secure online card payments include EMV tokenisation and strong 3D-Secure (MCSC, VbV, SafeKey) combined with one-time tokens. For card-less payment services, the security technologies applied include userID/password combined with one-time tokens and online banking access with one-time TAN.

Online merchants are serviced on demand by their acquirers and a few PSPs. Leading PSPs in Romania include Romcard, PayPoint, Paynet, PayU Romania and Netopia mobilPay.

Like in other countries, and in addition to domestic PSPs and bank acquirers, cross-border PSPs and foreign acquirers are active in Romania. Players include: WorldPay (UK), the PSPs DataCash (UK), Worldline (F) and Paysafe (UK, includes Skrill, Neteller, paysafecard).

In April 2013, PayPoint Romania, the local branch of UK payments processor CardPoint and retail-based cash and mobile payment operator in Romania, signed an agreement with paysafeCard (A), to enable Romanian consumers to use prepaid products to make payments online.

In November 2015, PayPoint Romania partnered Neosurf, another service provider for prepaid online payments, in order to provide domestic consumers with electronic vouchers for online purchases.

In October 2020, PayPoint signed a deal to sell its Romanian division and the Payzone entity to Innova Capital for £47 million. The deal was completed in April 2021.

Acquiring and Acceptance

In Europe, most acquirers offer multi-channel card acceptance and value-added merchant services at POS terminals, mobile MPOS terminals and online shops. The leading acquirers usually act on a European level and offer their services cross-border.

Additionally, innovative acquirers also offer the acceptance of card-less payment services based on partner agreements with the issuer of those payment services (e.g. account-based payments, wallets, prepaid products).

Most acquirers either operate their own acquirer systems and ATM/POS/MPOS network service hubs, or they use the processing services of external processors. In order to service online merchants in Europe, they may operate their own PSP processing platforms, or they co-operate with one or more specialised online payment service processors (PSPs).

From 2009, European acquirers compete in their home markets, cross-border on a European level, and cross-channel at POS terminals and servicing online merchants. From 2016, innovative acquirers started to offer omni-channel and multi-payment acceptance.

By mid-2024, omni-channel acceptance includes the ability to service all channels (i.e. POS/MPOS terminals, mobile in-store, online shops, in-app), and to accept multiple payment means in all of these channels. Multi-payment services demanded by merchants include cards, IBAN-based payments (SCT, SDD), online wallets, digital wallets, prepaid products, and immediate payments.

Outlook – By mid-2024, Romanian acquirers face the following notable challenges:

Most Romanian retail banks are usually both issuers and acquirers. Card transactions are subsequently cleared through VISA and Mastercard gateways or, in case of ‘on-us’ transactions, in the in-house processing systems.

Leading acquirers are BRD, Global Payments (absorbed acquirer unit of BCR), UniCredit Bank, Banca Transilvania and Banca Raiffeisen. Other acquirers account for smaller acquiring bank competitors.

Cross-border acquirers planning to be active in Romania include EVO Payments International, Worldline SIX Payment Services (CH) and Worldpay (UK).

In 2023, 9 Romanian banks were V PAY acquirers. BT/Bancpost and UniCredit Bank had been the only American Express acquirers. However, American Express is now the sole acquirer of AmExp cards. UTB acquires Diners cards and JCB cards. Both have partner agreements in place with those other acquirers who intend to accept all brands of cards on merchants’ demand. Table 6 illustrates the card brands accepted by active acquirers in Romania at mid-2024.

6 – Leading Acquirers in Romania

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Note: Banca Transilvania absorbed BancPost as at end-2018.
Source: PCM research.

New Acquirer Joint Venture with Global Payments – In July 2015, Global Payments (US), CaixaBank (E), and Erste Group Bank (A) announced an agreement to form a joint venture to provide merchant acquiring and payment services in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania, which will include the acquiring business of BCR.

Global Payments and CaixaBank paid €30 million in cash to acquire a 51% majority ownership in the venture. Erste Group contributes its existing merchant acquiring businesses in each of the three countries to the joint venture and holds a 49% interest. The transaction was closed in June 2016. The joint venture offers acquiring services under the brand Global Payments.

In August 2022, Global Payments announced its acquisition of EVO Payments, in a move aimed at increasing Global Payments’ target addressable markets, expand its presence in new and existing faster growth geographies, and augment its B2B software and payment solutions with the addition of accounts receivable software with broad third-party acceptance. The combined entity will have 4.5 million merchant locations and more than 1,500 financial institutions worldwide. The transaction will expand Global Payments’ geographic footprint into new geographies such as Poland, Germany, Chile, and upon closing, Greece, as well as enhance its scale in existing markets, including the US, Canada, Mexico, Spain, Ireland, and the UK. The transaction was completed in March 2023.

Payment Institutions in Romania

In 2023, there were 11 payment institutions listed in the BNR register. 292 cross-border payment institutions had a physical presence in Romania providing services through an established branch (4) or an agent (7).

Authorised in another EEA member state, additionally, a total of 320 cross-border payment institutions provided notification of operating in Romania under the EU passport system. Most of the institutions report payment services taking the form of remittance business.

ATM Terminal Infrastructure

ATM networks in Romania are owned individually by the banks, but the ATM network hubs are interlinked through the card processing companies to form a kind of national ATM network. The EMV migration of ATM terminals was completed in 2011.

Romanian ATM terminals are open for debit cards (Debit Mastercard, Maestro, Cirrus, VISA Debit, Electron, Plus) and credit cards (Mastercard, VISA, American Express, Diners, Discover and JCB). Few ATMs are activated for China UnionPay cards currently.

In 2023, BNR reported 9,663 ATMs (+1.65%) and 286.02 million cash withdrawals (-0.45%) with a total value of RON 289.95 billion (+2.94% vs 2022). There were on average 2,466.6 transactions per ATM per month, and the ATV per cash withdrawal amounted to RON 1,037.53 (€209.74).

7 – ATMs and Cash Withdrawals in Romania

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Source: ECB, BNR.

Among individual banks, BCR operated nearly 2,000 ATMs in its ATM network in 2023 while BRD reported nearly 1,400 ATMs in its network. As of 2022, BT had 1,865 ATM terminals, out of which 616 were multifunctional BT Express plus ATMs enabling self-banking to be performed, including cash deposits in local or foreign currency and contactless QR code-based withdrawals. Over 1 million cash withdrawals were performed by phone, with the help of BT Pay from the bank’s ATMs in 2021. In 2021, the number of cash deposits through BT Express Plus exceeded 13 million.

Cash-advance Services in Romania – Competition for ATMs 

In an Open Banking ecosystem, the dominant role of ATMs for cash withdrawal services may decline as more cash-advance and cash handling services are offered at retail outlets in Europe.

Cash in-Store – In parallel to ATM cash withdrawals on cards, the Romanian banks consider supporting cash-advance services on cards at POS terminals in retail outlets (see below).

In October 2020, PayPoint announced the sale of its Romanian business PayPoint Services and PayZone to Innova Capital. PayPoint has been operating in Romania since 2007, where it has partnered with local retailers through circa 19,000 sites to enable people to make cash bill payments, money transfers, road tax payments and mobile phone top-ups.

Shared Euronet ATM Network – In September 2012, Euronet Worldwide announced the deployment of the first Independent and Shared Automated Deposit Terminal (ADT) network in Europe. Euronet signed network participation agreements with several banks, including Citibank in Romania, among others. The agreements allow customers to deposit cash into any Euronet branded deposit terminal in Romania.

In April 2014, Euronet Services, the Romanian subsidiary of Euronet Worldwide, announced the acquisition of 200 ATMs from Banca Comercială Carpatica (BCC), doubling its ATM estate in Romania to 400 devices. The acquired in-branch ATMs were co-branded with Euronet, while the off-branch BCC ATMs were rebranded to Euronet. Also, BCC signed an agreement to participate in Euronet’s shared ATM network and a contract for POS acquiring and card issuing services.

In 2015, Euronet signed a new ATM network participation agreement with UniCredit bank in Romania.

Euronet is the only operator of a shared network in Romania. Six banks participate in Euronet’s shared ATM network which covers all 41 local counties in Romania. Euronet claims to be the largest Pan-European independent ATM deployer (IAD), with independent networks in 19 countries (see Hungary country profile).

POS Terminal Infrastructure 

POS networks in Romania are owned individually by the banks, but the POS terminal network hubs are interlinked through the card processing companies to form a kind of national POS network. The EMV migration of POS terminals is complete, since end-2011.

Accepted card brands at most Romanian POS terminals are debit cards (Debit Mastercard, Maestro, VISA Debit, and Electron), and credit cards (Mastercard, VISA, American Express, Diners, Discover and JCB). Also, selected merchants accept UnionPay cards at their POS terminals.

In 2023, BNR reported 456,937 POS terminals (+22.24%) compared with 229,520 in 2019, and there were 1,601.37 million payments (+24.74%) with a total value RON 160.53 billion (+21.60% on 2022). There were on average a low 292.0 payments per POS terminal per month, and the ATV per POS payment amounted to RON 99.85 (€20.18).

According to BNR, the reason for the rise in POS terminals since 2016 is that retailers with sales volume in excess of €10,000 (in lei equivalent) have to take payments by card.

8 – POS Terminals in Romania

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Source: ECB, BNR.

Among individual banks, BCR operated 13,000 POS terminals in its POS network in 2023. Also, Banca Transilvania had 494 BT Express terminals used for various operations, bills payments inclusive, over 120,000 POS terminals and collaborated with approximately 6,000 e-commerce merchants. Patria Bank had 1,609 installed POS terminals. OTP Bank had 18,000 installed POS terminals represented an increase of 63% compared to 2022.

Contactless POS terminals – As of 2020, over 90% of POS terminals in Romania were contactless and by the end of 2020, all POS payment terminals were accepting contactless payments. In January 2009, BCR began the roll-out of POS terminals in the offices of RATB, the Bucharest Public Transport Company (RATB), to enable payment for season tickets. In 2011, this was followed by the roll-out of contactless POS terminals in the offices of RATB. In December 2016, BCR installed a contactless ticketing system across the Bucharest subway, in partnership with transport operator Metrorex, Mastercard and VISA. The service was installed at all metro stations, with 164 access gates completed before the end of 2016.

In mid-2019, OTP Bank also expanded its POS network with new contactless POS terminals.

MPOS Terminals – Small and mobile merchants have started to use their smartphone and tablet PCs as a kind of mini-POS+ECR device with added chip reader dongle. In late 2012, Square clones like iZettle, SumUp, Miura, and others have launched their MPOS services in Europe. It is expected that Romanian merchants will also demand MPOS terminals. Further, merchants can initiate MOTO like card payments on their smartphones and tablets by downloading a payment app.

In August 2016, ING Bank Romania, together with GoSwiff and Mastercard, launched its ING MPOS Terminal service enabling mobile payments in the country.

In March 2021, OTP Bank Romania launched an mPOS solution for merchants, enabling contactless payments on their Android NFC smartphone or tablet. The OTP POSibil app allows contactless payment without the need for a fixed POS terminal or additional maintenance costs or consumables.

In 2022, Raiffeisen Bank introduced RaiPOS (SoftPOS – Soft Point of Sale) – the application that turns the phone or tablet into an electronic card payment terminal allowing SME customers to use their phone or tablet as a payment terminal (POS) for their services and products.

SmartPOS Terminals – In 201, POS terminal vendors launched innovative new types of POS terminals. Named SmartPOS terminals, they combine the electronic cash register functionality (ECR) used by merchants in outlets with a contactless POS payment terminal and merchant services in the cloud. For the very first time, the so far separated ECR devices and POS terminals are integrated in just one checkout solution device. From late 2018, SmartPOS terminal vendors like Castles, Clover, Ingenico, Jusp, Handpoint, PAX, Poynt, Spire Payments, Verifone, Worldline, and others have launched their SmartPOS devices and services in Europe. It is believed that Romanian SME merchants will embrace SmartPOS terminals.

In October 2022, after completing the sale of its POS division, Worldline announced the closing of the acquisition of 55% of the capital of SoftPos.eu, which transforms Android mobile devices into secure payment terminals. The acquisition is part of Worldline’s strategy to provide payment solutions adapted to all forms of commerce and move towards a more advanced POS terminal business. On the back of SoftPos.eu, Worldline will launch Worldline Tap on Mobile, an end-to-end solution, based on an Android app, allowing all merchants of all sizes to accept payments using a smartphone, tablet or a professional terminal.

Remote Payments on the Internet – Cards & More

Romania is a small e-commerce market in Europe with an emerging online shopping population. From 2015, due to EU VAT regulation, Romanian merchants will have to collect the applicable VAT rate for cross-border sales based on the consumers’ residence.

Internet Use – In 2023, 92% of Romanians had internet access and 50% of all internet users had purchased in online shops in the last 12 months. Across Eastern Europe, more than 90% of enterprises had web sales within their own home countries. Romania had the most enterprises selling within the country at 98%. For web sales to the rest of Europe, Romania is also leading with 51% of enterprises making web sales to other European countries.

In 2021, Romania’s e-commerce market comprised nearly half of the market in the whole Eastern European region (also including Moldova, Ukraine, Bulgaria, and Western Balkans).

The Romanian e-commerce market consists of more than 50,000 active online merchants in 2022, compared to 29,000 in 2021.

In 2023, the total B2C e-commerce purchase value was €10.6 billion, up 15.2% compared to 2022. The online purchase value per capita amounted to €556.0 while it was €1,023.1 per online buyer. E-commerce (eGDP) had a 3.32% market share in the Romanian GDP (2019: 1.92%).

9 – Internet Use in Romania

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Sources: Eurostat, ITU, Yearbooks.

Cards on the Internet (CNP) – All cards with international brands are accepted in Romanian online shops in the case that the merchant signed an acceptance contract accordingly. Also, Romanian banks issue prepaid cards and virtual cards for internet use only. 3D-Secure technology is recommended when paying online with cards. Further, web-based mail order services for merchant-initiated payments and Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) are offered.

The e-payment mix in Romania – In 2021, cash on delivery (75%) was the preferred payment means, followed by cards (36%) and online bank transfers (2%). Before COVID-19, 75% of payments were cash-on-delivery. By 2023, two-thirds (66%) of Romanian e-shoppers used Visa or Mastercard for online payments, while half still preferred Cash-on-Delivery (COD).

Remote Payments on the Mobile Internet – Since 2012, online buyers with a high affinity for smartphones have started to use their mobile phones for shopping on the mobile internet. Mobile online shops can be accessed by mobile internet, by mobile app, or by scanning a 2D QR-code displayed in a newspaper or at a bus station. Thus, remote mobile phone payments are executed either by using the e-payment page of the mobile online shop or by using payment apps of a PSP or an acquirer.

Also, Romanian merchants can download a payment app from their acquirer in order to initiate MOTO payments with cards and/or online direct debits. Leading Romanian merchants are testing their own mobile apps including loyalty functions (e.g. e-vouchers, discounts, outlet finder, QR-code scanning).

Mobile Payments – Overview

In 2023, 121.0% of the Romanians have subscribed to a mobile phone. Many Romanians own more than one mobile phone and 74% own a smartphone (2015: 50%, 2013:28%). Also, the tablet penetration has jumped from a very low level.

Since 2009, the next generation of mobile services and payments has started, pushed by the online buyers’ high affinity to smartphones and tablets and also by new disruptive technologies (1D-barcodes, QR-code, Bluetooth BLE and NFC.

Mobile initiatives in Romania are field testing and using new technologies either as initiating form factors to bridge to online shops on the internet (1D-barcodes, QR-code, NFC) or to enable contactless access to the retail POS outlet (1D-barcodes, QR-code, BLE, Bluetooth Low Energy, NFC Stickers, Mobile NFC Phones) e.g.:

The m-Payment Mix in Romania – There are no official m-payment mix statistics, but PSP information indicates that the domestic m-payment mix is similar to the e-payment mix on the internet (see Remote Payments on the Internet section).

In 2018, 54.8% of online purchases were made from mobile phones, compared to 45.2% of purchases from desktop computers. In 2019, 63.6% were made from mobiles, compared to 36.4% on desktops. By 2020, 65.6% of online purchases were made through mobile phones, compared to 34.4% from desktops.

Mobile Payment Initiative Details

In 2024, the various European mobile payment initiatives can be grouped into

Like Bulgaria, Romania is one of the least advanced CEE countries. M-parking is one of a few SMS payment services provided in Romania. Consumers can use the TelPark system, offered by TPark to pay for parking fees in Timisoara.

Central Bank Digital Currencies, Cryptocurrency Products 

In 2023, the Romanian payment ecosystem was composed of traditional cash payments, digital cryptocurrency products of independent payment service providers and research and development of central bank digital currencies, CBDC. The regulation of cryptocurrencies is becoming increasingly relevant as independent cryptocurrency products have grown more prevalent, posing challenges for regulators and national central banks.

In July 2023, the European Union introduced the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, which aims to standardize cryptocurrency regulation across member states, including Luxembourg. This regulation addresses various aspects of crypto assets, such as market integrity, consumer protection, and financial stability, while also promoting innovation in the sector. Under MiCA, crypto-asset service providers will have specific obligations to protect users’ wallets and mitigate investment risks.

Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) – The Digital Cash Challenge 

Central bank digital currency (CBDC), also called digital fiat currency or digital base money, is a digital currency issued by a national central bank (NCB), rather than by a commercial bank. It is also a liability of the NCB and denominated in the sovereign currency, as is the case with physical banknotes and coins.

All CBDCs are under the authority of the respective national central bank, and they are part of the domestic cash payment ecosystem. Rather than a new currency, CBDC is a form of central bank electronic money that could be used by households and businesses to make payments. In addition, most CBDC implementations will likely not use or need any sort of distributed ledger such as a blockchain.

Unlike “retail CBDC,” which is generally designed as a central bank liability universally accessible to individuals and businesses within a jurisdiction’s financial system, “wholesale CBDC” refers to a digitized central bank liability designed for sizable (generally interbank) transactions, and for which access is limited to certain financial institutions.

National Central Banks (NCBs) have been providing trusted money to the public for hundreds of years as part of their public policy objectives. Trusted money is a public good. It offers a common unit of account, store of value and medium of exchange for the sale of goods and services and settlement of financial transactions. Providing cash for public use is an important tool for central banks. Yet the world is changing.

Even before COVID-19, cash use for payments was declining fast and convenient digital payments have grown enormously in volume and diversity. To evolve and pursue their public policy objectives in a digital world, central banks are actively researching the pros and cons of offering a digital currency to the public, a “general purpose” CBDC.

Central banks’ interest in CBDC has increased as a potential means of delivering their public policy objectives. Profound, ongoing changes across finance, technology and society, as well as the recent COVID-19 crisis, provided additional impetus for the research of, and experimentation related to, CBDCs.

CBDC is a national digital currency issued by the central bank that is expected to replace or coexist with fiat money and hold the same value. Mobile money, on the other hand, utilises existing commercial banking-based accounting to manage customer wallet balances based on an exchange with cash or lines of credit and loans.

CBDC is a direct liability on the central bank as it is the main issuer of the currency, whereas digital money is the liability of commercial banks and other authorised financial institutions using funds on account. Although some implementation approaches propose that CBDC can be implemented in either an indirect or hybrid form, its liability remains on the respective national central bank.

Background on CBDC Evolution

In October 2020, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, Sveriges Riksbank, the Swiss National Bank and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published a report, Central bank digital currencies: foundational principles and core features, identifying the foundational principles necessary for any publicly available CBDC to help central banks meet their public policy objectives.

The report focused on a publicly available “general purpose” CBDC (a digital payment instrument, denominated in the national unit of account, that is a direct liability of the central bank).

A “wholesale” CBDC, restricted to financial institutions, is also an active area of exploration, notes the report, for central banks but one that carries different opportunities, challenges, and risks. The report explored the use cases for, and challenges and opportunities arising from, the possible issuance of a general purpose CBDC.

In September 2021, the same seven central banks and the BIS followed up with the publication of a new set of reports exploring the potential of retail CBDCs, including policy options and practical implementation issues. While none of the central banks has yet decided to proceed with a retail CBDC, they recognise such an instrument would have wide-ranging implications. Delivering on the future needs of consumers would require systems that encourage innovation, choice and competition among a diverse mix of intermediaries.

BIS reported that a 2021 survey of central banks found that “86% are actively researching the potential for CBDCs, 60% were experimenting with the technology and 14% were deploying pilot projects.

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) is piloting a ‘digital yuan’, known as e-CNY, in various cities, often in association with major sporting events, such as the Winter Olympics.

The ECB published a paper on the potential of a “digital euro” in October 2020, exploring the “benefits and risks” of such an initiative. It completed a public consultation in January 2021 and a series of focus groups in December 2021. Its investigation stage is expected to continue until October 2023, after which the ECB “will decide whether to start developing a digital euro.”

The US Federal Reserve reported in February 2022 that while it has made no decisions about “whether to pursue or implement” a CBDC, it was “exploring the potential benefits and risks of CBDCs from a variety of angles and was inviting public feedback on discussion papers.

The Bank of Japan said in October 2020 that it had no plans for a CBDC and was committed to maintain the cash system as long as there was public demand for it. It nevertheless intended to explore technical feasibility through a proof of concept, consider institutional arrangements and coordinate approaches with domestic and international stakeholders. In 2023, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) has announced that it will begin a pilot for its digital yen with commercial financial institutions. In February 2023, Bank of Japan has embarked on a CBDC trial.

In June 2023, the BIS and BoE said they completed a CBDC pilot project involving CBDCs jointly run by the Bank of England (BoE) and the Bank of International Settlements (BIS). Project Rosalind was designed to explore how a “universal and extensible API layer” could connect central bank and private sector infrastructures and enable retail CBDC payments. The project also sought to develop a number of retail-CBDC use cases.

According to the BIS and BoE, the project has successfully demonstrated that “a well-designed API layer could work with different private sector applications and central bank ledger designs and that a set of simple and standardised API functionalities could support a diverse range of use cases”.

In all, the project led to the development of 33 API functionalities and examined 30 retail CBDC cases including peer-to-peer transfers, retail payments for goods and services and small-value business transactions.

While CBDCs are still in experimental phases across major economies, 2024 has seen increased momentum towards real-world implementation, with several countries, notably China and the ECB, moving closer to full-scale rollouts. Public-private collaboration, technological innovation, and privacy concerns remain central to future CBDC development. Central banks worldwide continue to balance innovation with maintaining public trust and financial stability in this rapidly evolving space.

Global Status of CBDCs 

Most National Central Banks (NCBs) are involved in different stages of a CBDC project. Especially, the NCBs have different views on which kind of CBDC they would intend to launch as a digital currency:

As of 2023, the global CBDC status reveals that four central banks – Nigeria (e-Naira), Eastern Caribbean (D-Cash), Jamaica (JAM-DEX), and the Bahamas (Sand Dollar) – have introduced a domestic CBDC scheme.

Six countries have launched a CBDC pilot: France, Canada, China, India, Saudi Arabia, and Ghana.

The NCBs of most other countries are involved in either a CBDC proof-of-concept phase – including Norway, Hungary, and Sweden – or they are still in a CBDC research stage.

So far, Ecuador is the only country that has cancelled its CBDC ambitions, Dinero electronico.

CBDC, the European Union and the Digital Euro

In July 2021, the Estonian Central Bank released a report about its experiment with the ECB and the central banks of Spain, Germany, Italy, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, and the Netherlands to assess the functionality of the digital euro. The project was able to conduct 300,000 transactions per second, with an average rate of less than two seconds per transaction.

In June 2023, the European Commission (EC) has published its legislative proposal establishing the legal framework for a possible digital euro, stressing that the CBDC would be a compliment to, not replacement for, cash.

A digital euro would be available alongside existing national and international private means of payment, such as cards or applications. It would work like a digital wallet, with people and businesses able to pay with it anytime and anywhere in the euro area.

The digital euro would be available for payments both online and offline. While online transactions would offer the same level of data privacy as existing digital means of payments, offline payments would essentially be like paying with cash – with nobody able to see what people are paying for.

The digital euro would be distributed by banks and other payment service providers, with basic services provided to people free of charge. Merchants would be required to accept the digital currency unless they are cash-only firms.

The EC’s proposal still needs to be adopted by the European Parliament and the European Council before the European Central Bank decides whether to roll out a digital euro. Notably, the European Central Bank (ECB) is involved in the preparation phase, which will run until 2025. During this time, technical experimentation and legal discussions are ongoing before any formal rollout decisions can be made​.

CBDC and Belgium

In Romania, the concept of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) is being actively explored and developed, particularly by the National Bank of Romania (BNR).

Pilot Program

In September 2021, a small team of 7 people from the BNR initiated a CBDC pilot project in a closed testing environment. This pilot aims to understand the technical, security, legal and policy implications associated with the potential issuance of a digital version of the Romanian leu, referred to as the “Digital RON”.

Objectives and Benefits

The primary objectives of introducing a CBDC in Romania include enhancing financial inclusion, as only about 66% of the population currently has a bank account. A digital RON could provide a more accessible and secure form of digital money, promoting financial inclusion and reducing the reliance on cash.

Pros and Cons of CBDCs

According to research by the Bank of England, BIS, and by several other central banks, the benefits of CBDCs include supporting increased innovation in the payment system with:

Possible challenges related to use of CBDCs could include:

The ECB commissioned multiple exploratory reports on the feasibility of a digital euro in 2020 and 2021. The ECB’s working paper suggests a two-tier system for a “general purpose” CBDC. In July 2021, the ECB announced that it would launch a 24-month investigation phase for the digital euro project, which aims to address key issues regarding the design and distribution of a digital euro. The investigation phase will include focus groups, prototyping and conceptual work. In February 2022, the European Commission announced that it will propose a bill that would serve as the legal foundation for the issuance of a digital euro by the ECB. In May 2022, Christine Lagarde stated that she would be willing to back the digital Euro. By June 2023, the ECB and European Commission had significantly advanced their legislative and technical work, moving closer to launching a pilot phase for the digital euro in 2024. The pilot phase is expected to assess the practical implementation of the digital euro, following the completion of the current investigation period​.

The working paper states that the use of CBDC for retail payments is the primary use-case for the development of a digital Euro. The paper also rejects the motivation of using CBDC as a store of value, which would involve consumers switching deposits from commercial banks into CBDC. The working paper also recommends that a CBDC should be interest-bearing, with attractive interest rates offered for smaller sums suitable for payments and lower rates available for larger amounts.

Cryptocurrencies EU

The regulation of crypto assets and related services across Europe is not standardised and is highly fragmented. While no nation has outright banned usage of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum and others, regulators have not formed a consensus over how to legislate such a quickly fluctuating market, where new cryptocurrencies emerge faster than regulators can catch up to.

The current approach across Europe is to adapt existing legislations to encompass cryptocurrencies, however, this is unlikely to be efficient as consumer and business usage changes.

In the European Union, the fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5) covers certain crypto assets under the term “virtual currencies”, but it does not provide a harmonised approach. As a result, each Member State has created its own regulatory regime for transactions related to “virtual currencies” or crypto assets.

In response, the European Commission proposed the Markets in Crypto-assets (MiCA) regulation in 2020 as part of the Digital Finance Strategy, with MiCA expected to come into force in 2022 and will be directly applicable in all Member States after an 18-month transition period. MiCA will result in a harmonised set of rules for products and services and legal certainty related to crypto assets throughout the European Union in 2024. This would enable a larger number of investors to be active in this area and to use distributed ledger technology (DLT).

MiCA is to apply to all persons who want to issue crypto assets or provide services related to crypto assets in the EU.

The MiCA proposal is intended to lay down uniform rules on transparency and disclosure requirements for the issuance, offer to the public and the admission to trading of crypto assets. In addition, there are rules on the authorisation and supervision of crypto asset service providers and their issuers.

The main focus lies with the issuers of asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens. The Regulation intends to regulate the operation, organisation and governance of issuers of asset referenced tokens and e-money tokens and crypto asset service providers. There will also be investor protection rules for the issuance, trading, exchange and custody of crypto assets. In addition, measures to prevent market abuse are to be included in the Regulation to ensure the integrity of the crypto assets markets.

In June 2022, the EU Council President and European Parliament reached agreement on MiCA regulation, ruling that crypto asset service providers will require authorisation to operate in the EU, not including NFTs or media-related digital assets.

Under the agreement, the regulatory framework will protect investors and consumers, while ensuring financial stability and enabling innovation and growth. The regulations will help protect consumers from fraud and scams, as crypto asset service providers will be liable if they lose assets and fail to protect investors’ wallets. The European Banking Authority (EBA) will form a public register of non-compliant crypto asset providers.

The regulation will also implement restrictions on stablecoins, with stablecoin issuers to be supervised by the EBA and their “holders will be offered a claim at any time and free of charge.”

Unregulated Cryptocurrency Products – Background 

Regulators and national central banks are challenged by unregulated independent cryptocurrency products. Whereas CBDCs are under the authority of the central bank, almost all cryptocurrencies are decentralised, and not controlled or managed by any central authority.

Obviously, financial market authorities and the national central banks are not in favour of unregulated cryptocurrency products, and they see them as a systematic risk for the financial system. Their intention to regulate the respective cryptocurrency exchange platforms has gained momentum.

Cryptocurrencies, originally designed as a store of value, are digital assets, developed and maintained on decentralised blockchains, and they can be used as a medium of exchange or payment method. Bitcoin and Ethereum are the most popular forms of cryptocurrencies worldwide used by consumers and businesses for transactions.

As of 2022, over 400 million people worldwide used cryptocurrencies, with merchants and businesses in more sectors accepting it as a form of payment. The major payment schemes VISA and Mastercard, PayPal and along with a growing number of financial institutions, have launched services allowing consumers to purchase or use cryptocurrencies for a range of applications.

According to a 2022 Deloitte survey, around two-thirds (64%) of surveyed merchants indicated that their customers have significant interest in using digital currencies for payments, and 83% expect consumer interest in digital currencies for payments to increase or significantly increase over the next 12 months.

In addition, merchants are motivated by the prospect of enabling immediate access to funds (40% of respondents), taking advantage of blockchain-based innovations in decentralised digital finance (39%), and allowing in-house management of the revenue cycle/treasury/finance department (39%).

Over half (54%) of large retailers (with revenues of $500 million and up) have invested more than $1 million on enabling digital currency payments, while only 6% of small retailers (with revenues of under $10 million) did so.

A 2022 survey from Checkout.com found a sharp rise in people wanting to use cryptocurrencies as a means of payment, with 40% of 18-35-year-old consumers citing their desire to experiment with using crypto as a payment method, up from less than 30% in 2021. Meanwhile, over 80% of businesses say offering crypto has attracted new customers, led to a decrease in chargebacks, while just over 60% have seen higher authorisation rates accepting crypto payments.

A recent report by Triple-A put cryptocurrency ownership in Europe at around 49 million people.

As of mid-2022, in Romania, as in many EU jurisdictions, cryptocurrencies are considered to be neither legal tender nor electronic money, but rather digital assets with a limited role as currency or having a utility role in a determined cooperative system.

In December 2020, the Romanian government used blockchain as an underlying infrastructure in national elections, to guarantee the integrity of the electoral process and to ensure tamper-proof and real-time data on voters’ presence.

A 2022 study conducted among Romanians on the degree of ownership of cryptocurrencies revealed that 96% of Romanian adults connected to the internet and aged between 18-55 years had heard of cryptocurrencies. Moreover, out of 10 people who had heard of cryptocurrencies, four owned or have owned cryptocurrencies and eight out of ten intended to purchase cryptocurrencies in the future. As of 2023, approximately 14% of Romania’s population owns or uses cryptocurrencies, positioning the country ahead of the UK and comparable to the U.S. in terms of crypto adoption.

Stablecoins

Stablecoins are a type of asset-backed cryptocurrency, whose value is typically pegged to the value of an underlying asset such as USD, GBP, or commodities like gold. Stablecoins are partially backed by real assets, and they are designed to have a value pegged to real-world assets, therefore avoiding the extreme volatility that affects cryptocurrencies.

Stablecoins offer the potential benefits of cryptocurrencies, like transparency, security, immutability, and decentralised control, while maintaining the guarantees and stability that come with using fiat currency. Stablecoins have potential to be used in cross-border payments, providing a secure, online environment for peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions to take place without needing decentralised cryptocurrencies or to pay fees to convert money into local currencies.

As of 2024, there were more than 200 stablecoins globally, comprising a market that’s worth approximately $174 billion.

A survey of central banks in January 2021 found that two-thirds of respondents are actively researching the potential impact of stablecoins on financial stability. However, some regulators in the US and China, consider stablecoins as a potential serious risk to financial systems. The risk is especially high with centralised coins, such as those backed by fiat and issued by private organisations, as economic power would be disproportionately concentrated on a single entity.

The widespread use of stablecoins in payment platforms could also pose a systemic risk, in relation to the validation and confirmation of stablecoin transactions which could interfere with payment systems. If stablecoin users couldn’t access money in their e-wallets and businesses couldn’t receive payments, economic activity would be greatly disrupted. However, these risks have not deterred major institutions like JP Morgan and VISA to explore stablecoin use cases via partnerships and internal R&D.

Tether As of 2024, Tether remains the largest stablecoin globally, holding a market share of over 50%. This dominance is driven by its widespread usage and liquidity in crypto markets. Its nearest competitors include USD Coin (USDC), Binance USD (BUSD), and decentralized stablecoins like DAI, although Tether’s market share far exceeds them. Recent reports have shown Tether’s involvement in major financial markets and even Bitcoin mining, further reinforcing its stronghold on the crypto landscape.

Regarding Facebook’s Diem (formerly Libra) project, it was officially abandoned. Diem’s assets were sold off to Silvergate Capital in early 2022, marking the end of the initiative that once aimed to create a globally accessible digital currency. Regulatory pressures and internal challenges led to the dissolution of the project.

Market Size and Dynamics

Cards in Issue

With a population of 19.06 million, there were 1.14 bank cards per capita at end-2023, indicating considerable potential for future growth even after the rapid expansion of the past five years. All cards issued in Romania are branded or co-badged for international use.

BNR, the central bank, authorises the issuance and circulation of various types of debit cards, credit cards, and prepaid cards. BNR said that the card market in Romania showed the following trends:

Based on BNR figures, there were 21.75 million debit, delayed debit, and credit cards in Romania by end-2023, an increase of 5.41% on the previous year. Debit cards accounted for 86.33% of the card base while credit cards account for 13.67%, down from 15.9% in 2014. At end-2023, contactless cards amounted to 99.6% of the total card base.

10 – Cards Issued in Romania

[ninja_tables id=”4957″]

Note: there are a few cards with two payment functions, this explains the small discrepancy between card numbers and the totals.
Source: ECB, BNR.

In Table 11, BNR also gives a more detailed breakdown reporting, showing that 100% of all bank cards in circulation were active cards in 2023.

11 – BNR Summary of Romanian Cards

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Source: Banca Nationala a Romaniei (BNR).

Card Fraud

Card fraud is one of the most fascinating aspects of the payments industry, not least because it is relentless and mutating. EMV implementation and 3D-Secure, combined with Strong Customer Authentication (SCA), have done much to reduce domestic losses from lost and stolen cards in Europe. However, the war against fraud losses and the changing face of fraud continues to be a threat for the payments industry, including Romania.

The global card fraud challenges are Card-Not-Present fraud (CNP), cross-border fraud and counterfeiting on non-EMV cards. CNP fraud accounted for 80% of the total value of card fraud losses in 2020. From 2017, a new payment fraud category are fraud losses on contactless card payments. International card fraud continues to be smaller in scale than domestic card abuse but is proportionately far more common. And of course, fraudulent cross-border transactions on cards continue to grow on all purchase channels.

Losses from card fraud on the internet and cross-border fraud on domestic cards have grown significantly. Following EMV implementation, card fraud has moved increasingly to countries where POS terminals or online shops have not yet been migrated to EMV and SCA, respectively, and to cross-border fraud with compromised cards.

The breakdown of card fraud losses by method of compromise already indicates the importance of distinguishing between domestic and cross-border fraud losses. The method of compromise covers the means by which fraudsters obtain payment cards or card details. Notable methods of compromise in a complex payment world are CNP fraud based on theft of card credentials and card lost and stolen fraud followed by growing ID fraud and by cross-counterfeit fraud.

The main method of compromise responsible for losses in many European countries is now the theft of card credentials. A high proportion of these card fraud losses are caused by the growth in e-commerce, and still the lack of use of Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) methods such as 3D-Secure 2.0.

In a post data-breach world, identity information, payment credentials, account credentials and responses to security questions are widely available for purchase in bulk. Complete fraud exploits and zero-day attacks are also easily available on the black market for outright purchase or as a hosted / fully managed service.

In the digital payments world and having the changing face of fraud in mind, there are significant challenges for card issuing banks, payment service providers and their supporting processors.

The Payment Incidents Register (PIR) conducts its activity in compliance with BNR regulations. In 2022, the values of the main indicators calculated and monitored by the PIR for credit institutions were on a decline from 2021. The number of fraudulent account holders reported with payment incidents was 8,165, down by 1.3% from 2021, while the number of payment incidents fell by 3.4% to 28,441.

The analysis of fraud statistics for H1 2021 did not show any significant or large‑scale frauds, which indicates a sound management of operational and security risks by payment service providers. By payment instrument, card payment transactions posted the highest fraud rate, which was nonetheless lower for each six-month period reported, reaching 0.007% in H1 2021. Of the total number of fraudulent remote card-based payment transactions in H1 2021, 85.03% involved card details theft by attackers, while 55.27% of card-based payments at ATM and POS terminals involved the theft/loss of card.

An October 2020 report from BuyShares found that in relation to card fraud across Europe, which amounted to €1.55 billion in 2019, Romania had the least amount of fraud at €2.9 million.

According to FICO, the international fraud prevention specialist, card fraud losses in Romania (+6.14% from 2021) have seen a continued increase in fraud, and CNP losses have nearly doubled since 2016. The market has now reached a tipping point, when outdated fraud practices and legacy solutions are too easily exploited. As a result, the Romanian banks have made a substantial investment in strengthening control frameworks.

12 – Card Fraud Losses on Romanian Cards

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Note: all figures were restated in RON currency.
Source: FICO, Euromonitor International.

According to ECB figures published in August 2020, the value of fraud as a share of transaction value in Romania was 0.005% in 2018.

In 2018, acquirer card fraud losses by value in Romania were composed of ATM fraud: 3%, POS fraud: 31% and CNP fraud: 66%.

As most POS card transactions are authorised online-to-issuer, acquirer fraud rates in Romania are under control except for offline vending machines, e-commerce and a few other hotspots. Obviously, EMV implementation has contributed significantly to declining fraud rates.

In 2018, issuer fraud losses by value were composed of ATM fraud: 4%, POS fraud: 5% and CNP fraud: 91%.

Romanian banks are pushing 3D-Secure, offer PIN-change services at ATMs and SMS notification to inform cardholders about the use of their credit card. The increasing numbers of chip technology cards, contactless cards and display cards have led to improved safety of payment transactions. Credit card fraud prevention measures taken have been pushing 3D-Secure, updating banks’ fraud prevention systems and real-time-scoring and implementing more rule-based fraud control mechanisms.

POS terminal vulnerability – The disclosure by Romanian hackers of their methodology for remotely compromising POS systems brings attention to common system vulnerabilities that are worrisome for small merchants and their banking institutions. The hackers confessed to breaching POS systems where payment card data was electronically housed by scanning the internet to identify vulnerable systems marked by certain remote desktop software apps.

They said that these attacks prove that compliance and certification with the PCI DSS cannot immunize merchants against attacks when networks are left open or common or default account names and passwords are used. Security experts’ recommendations for merchants are to deploy basic security features such as firewalls and two-factor authentication for remote access to POS devices and systems, change factory default passwords and set up unique user accounts for network access.

Card Use 

According to BNR, card payments have shown a five-year growth rate of 34.95% between 2019 and 2023. However, cards in Romania are used mainly for ATM withdrawals. In 2014, POS payments by number equalled, for the first time, ATM withdrawals on cards, which still outnumbered POS payments by a factor of 1.06 by value on figures for 2023. So far, delayed debit card payments reported by BNR continued to be insignificant.

The sustained impact of the pandemic on card usage can be seen in the rise in remote and online payments.

In 2023, there were 2,062.73 million card payments (+21.41%) with a total value of RON 274.00 billion (+19.77%) amounting to an average of 95.7 payments per card per year (+15.89% vs 2022). The ATV per payment card was RON 132.83 (€26.85). Debit cards accounted for 93.38% of the total card payments by number and 90.71% by value, respectively. It is noted that more than 80% of all card payments were contactless payments in 2022.

Included in the card payments total in 2023 were 487.03 million remote payments on the internet (+23.93%) with a total value of RON 100.26 billion (+19.88% vs 2022).

The use of Romanian cards abroad accounted for 385.68 million payments (+31.33%) with the value RON 75.25 billion (+26.36% from 2022) amounting to 18.70% and 27.46% of the card payments total, respectively.

13 – Payments with Romanian Cards

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Source: ECB, BNR.

Card Use Campaigns – All Romanian issuer banks continued launching recurring multi-channel marketing campaigns to encourage card use and to convert more issued cards into active cards. The following typical example shows the positive impact of the activities:

In December 2008, BCR launched a campaign to encourage use of its cards at the POS, noting at the time that only 10% of cardholders used their cards other than at ATMs. BCR offered a bonus of 0.6% of the purchase amount on debit or credit cards and reported in July 2009 that POS transactions had increased by 23%, with more than 200,000 cardholders qualifying for the bonus.

Commenting on the campaign in May 2010, BCR said the number of transactions performed with its cards in March 2010 was 34% higher than in 2009. As well as POS payments, eligible transactions included bill payments at BCR ATMs, mobile phone top-ups and RATB transport cards. The total bonus paid in respect of March 2010 was 1.1 million lei (€250,000).

More recent promotional activity has included 2018 campaigns linked to the UEFA Champions League, and Hollywood film tie-ins, for which all banks claim success in increasing card usage at POS, a key business objective for all issuers and acquirers in Romania.

Card Use per Capita

Card payments per capita were 108.2 in 2023, up by 20.72% from 2022. According to the BNR, there are now 101.0 debit payments and 7.1 credit card payments per capita.

14 – Card Payments Per Capita in Romania

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Source: ECB, Banca Nationala a Romaniei (BNR).

Debit Card Use

Debit cards are the main payment instrument, accounting for 86.33% of the card base according to BNR figures. Debit card payments have grown rapidly by 27.83% in the last five years.

In 2023, there were 1,926.08 million debit card payments (+20.97%) with a total value of RON 248.56 billion (+19.93% vs 2022). The ATV per debit card payment amounted to RON 129.05 (€26.09), and there were 103.4 payments per debit card per year.

15 – Payments with Romanian Debit Cards

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Source: ECB, Banca Nationala a Romaniei (BNR).

Credit Card Use

Credit card payments have grown by 14.04% in the last five years. In 2023, there were 135.63 million credit card payments (+18.52%) with the total value RON 25.90 billion (+21.95% vs 2022). The ATV per credit card payment amounted to RON 190.94 (€38.60), and there were 46.1 payments per credit card per year.

16 – Payments with Romanian Credit Cards

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Source: ECB, Banca Nationala a Romaniei (BNR).

E-Money Use

According to BNR, the use of e-money accounts accessed through a card continued to be marginal. In 2016, BNR reported 0.39 million e-money purchases (2015: 0.47) with the total value RON 26.2 million (2015: RON 28.74 million. The ATV per e-money purchase was RON 67.18. As of 2023, the BNR had not updated e-money usage statistics.

Leading Card Issuers

BCR issues several types of contactless debit and credit cards, most of which are Mastercard, VISA and Debit Mastercard, and Electron cards, and reported 2.5 million active cards in February 2009, giving market share of 19%. BCR also said in February 2009 that 92% of its active cards were debit cards, implying figures of 2.3 million debit and 200,000 credit cards. As of 2022, BCR had an estimated 3.3 million cards in issue, around 20% market share.

In 2011, BCR issued the contactless Zambet VISA Electron debit card with payWave function, embedded RATB transport application and loyalty function followed by a contactless PowerCard VISA credit card. As of 2019 the card was no longer in issue.

BCR continued its strategic partnership with IKEA, through which the bank provided more than 26,200 credit cards in 2019.

SocGen’s BRD describes itself as a leader in the debit and credit cards market. As of 2021, BRD reported around 2.4 million cards. Card brands include Maestro and VISA Electron debit cards and a range of VISA Classic RON- and USD-denominated cards and Mastercard Standard RON-, EUR- and USD-denominated cards. All new BRD-issued cards have an added contactless function.

Banca Raiffeisen Romania (BRR) issues contactless debit cards (Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit), contactless credit cards (Mastercard, VISA) and prepaid cards. Its credit card portfolio reached 380,000 cards in 2012, being the largest credit card portfolio in Romania, with 22% market share. It has given no further update on card numbers. Based on previous ratios, it has probably issued more than 1.6 million cards, including payroll payment cards and a co-branded card with Vodafone which allows cardholders to accumulate Vodafone Every Day loyalty points. Most of its credit cards are Mastercard-branded.

In 2020, Raiffeisen Bank continued its strategy of offering customers free of charge and bundled services for daily banking: current account, card, ATM withdrawals without commission from any bank in Romania, digital solutions (Smart Mobile, digital payments) as well as a savings account. By the end of 2020, more than three-quarters of the client portfolio used these benefits.

Compared to 2020, by the end of 2021 transactions made by private individuals at merchants increased by over 30% in number and value. Out of these numbers, debit card transactions used for e-commerce purchases increased by over 50% compared to 2020.

In payment cards, Raiffeisen Bank claimed a portfolio of over 570,000 active cards and continues to be one of the leaders in the credit card market in Romania in 2022.

Bancpost, the former Eurobank EFG Group (GR) member bank, previously issued American Express cards in Romania as well as VISA and Mastercard credit cards. Its main debit programmes had been VISA Electron Ultra, VISA Classic Prospera and Mastercard Standard Taifun, which all are replaced by VISA Debit cards and Debit Mastercard cards.

All cards can be linked to Total Account, a package which offers direct payments from Bancpost ATMs for the services provided by third parties, particularly the mobile phone network operators Romtelecom, Vodafone, Orange and Cosmote.

From July 2010, all VISA and Mastercard cards issued are EMV cards.

Banca Transilvania (BT), issues debit cards branded VISA or Debit Mastercard also Mastercard and VISA credit cards.

In November 2017, BT launched contactless BT Pay stickers. Its BT Pay collection includes bracelets, watches, and NFC stickers. In January, BT launched its mobile HCE NFC wallet app, BT Pay, that allows for shopping on VISA and Mastercard branded cards and mobile money transfer. BT claimed that BT Pay is the first wallet in southeastern Europe that uses HCE NFC combines with tokenisation security.

During 2023, BT reported 6 million (2022: 5.3 million) cards issued, out of which 560,000 were credit cards. The number of transactions performed with cards increased by 22% in 2023 versus 2022.

17 – Banca Transilvania Key Figures

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Note: In 2019, there were 550,000 BT Pay users.
Source: Banca Transilvania.

UniCredit Bank (formerly UniCredit Tiriac Bank) launched the Miles & More Gold Credit Card in 2009, leveraging the Miles & More loyalty programme from Lufthansa. The cards achieved usage rates four times the market average, according to the bank’s 2009 annual report. Other 2009 launches were linked to the UEFA football platform. In 2023, UniCredit Bank offered contactless debit cards, including VISA Debit, Debit Mastercard, and co-branded Mastercard cards with Metro and Miles&More. Its contactless credit cards are VISA and Mastercard branded and carry a 50-day interest-free period.

CEC Bank, the state-owned bank, reported reaching the milestone of 1 million cards issued in July 2010, adding that 953,701 were active in 2011. No subsequent updates were reported. CEC issues contactless debit cards branded Debit Mastercard cards and contactless credit cards branded Mastercard or VISA.

CEC and Mastercard MoneySend Service – In September 2012, CEC Bank and Mastercard Europe launched the MoneySend Service in Romania. This service allows the holders of CEC Bank Mastercard cards to send money to any other person, holder of a Mastercard or Maestro card issued in Romania or in a number of European countries, through financial institutions certified for such service. Transfers can be performed, by using the CEC Bank ATMs. Also, the holders of CEC Bank Mastercard cards can receive money sent by the holders of Mastercard or Maestro cards issued by banks from the country or abroad, certified to send money by using the MoneySend Mastercard Service. At mid-2024, the countries to which money can be sent by MoneySend Service are: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Israel, Kosovo, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey and Ukraine.

Garanti Bank reported 426,000 customers and over 305,000 credit and debit cards in 2019. It issues contactless debit cards and credit cards branded VISA or Mastercard. Garanti Bank has launched innovative products and services among which is Bonus Card – the first multi-branded chip card in Romania. The card combines:

Bonus Card is Garanti Bank’s flagship product and a unique product in Romania. Cardholders accumulate Bonus points every time they perform a transaction with it. Bonus Card is present in a diversified network of partner merchants throughout the country, with more than 5,000 locations.

Garanti Romania continued to invest in technology in order to differentiate itself in the market. In 2013, the bank launched the SEQR mobile payment solution (see above Mobile Initiative Details).

OTP Bank Romania – In 2020, OTP Bank Romania managed to further increase its bank card portfolio through steady organic growth. As of December 2020, the bank card portfolio of OTP Bank Romania increased by 2% compared to the previous year. The debit card segment represented 94%, while credit cards comprised around 6% of the total bank card portfolio.  The total volume of bank card transactions performed by the OTP Bank cardholders in 2020 reached RON 3,494 million, which marked a stable increase of 9% compared to 2019.

OTP Bank expanded the card acquiring business on the merchant POS segment. At the end of 2020, the merchant POS network reached 6,199 POS terminals, both in-store terminals and virtual terminals (e-commerce), an increase of more than 26% comparing to 2019. On the card acquiring side, the merchant POS transactions volume registered an increase of 5% in 2020, reaching RON 2.304 million.

During 2020, OTP Bank Romania launched two Premium debit cards, Mastercard Debit Gold for retail customers and Mastercard Debit Corporate for businesses. Also, the bank completed implementation of biometric authentication for online transactions performed through OTP Bank cards.

The owned app for Mobile Payments, OTPay, launched in December 2019, was expanded to the whole Mastercard card portfolio user base with Android devices.

International Money Transfers

International money transfers, also known as remittances, are an important payment mechanism in Romania. Internet, mobile and card-to-card based remittances are becoming increasingly popular in Romania, one of the largest remittance receivers in Eastern Europe.

Around 8 to 10 million Romanians in total are estimated to be living abroad as of 2023, representing around 20% of the population leaving the country over the past decade. Many have travelled to find work in European countries such as Spain and Italy, although there are also growing communities in the USA, Canada, Hungary, Germany, and the UK. The value of Romanian remittances was reported by the World Bank at 2.8% of GDP in 2023.

Data Tables

1 – Bank Sector Structure in Romania

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Note: Banca Centrală Cooperartistă (CREDITCOOP) is included under banks with majority domestic private capital.
Source: National Bank of Romania (BNR)

2 – Main Romanian Banks 2023

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Note: BNR figures have been converted into euros using the average exchange rate of €1 = RON 4.9467
Note: In 2018 Banca Transilvania integrated Bancpost.
Source: National Bank of Romania (BNR)

3 – Cashless Payment Transactions in Romania

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Note: totals include “other payment services”, i.e. bills of exchange.
Source: ECB, BNR.

4 – Average Exchange Rates

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Source: ECB.

5 – Leading Card Issuers in Romania

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Source: PCM research.

6 – Leading Acquirers in Romania

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Note: Banca Transilvania absorbed BancPost as at end-2018.
Source: PCM research.

7 – ATMs and Cash Withdrawals in Romania

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Source: ECB, BNR.

8 – POS Terminals in Romania

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Source: ECB, BNR.

9 – Internet Use in Romania

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Sources: Eurostat, ITU, Yearbooks.

10 – Cards Issued in Romania

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Note: there are a few cards with two payment functions, this explains the small discrepancy between card numbers and the totals.
Source: ECB, BNR.

11 – BNR Summary of Romanian Cards

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Source: Banca Nationala a Romaniei (BNR).

12 – Card Fraud Losses on Romanian Cards

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Note: all figures were restated in RON currency.
Source: FICO, Euromonitor International.

13 – Payments with Romanian Cards

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Source: ECB, BNR.

14 – Card Payments Per Capita in Romania

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Source: ECB, Banca Nationala a Romaniei (BNR).

15 – Payments with Romanian Debit Cards

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Source: ECB, Banca Nationala a Romaniei (BNR).

16 – Payments with Romanian Credit Cards

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Source: ECB, Banca Nationala a Romaniei (BNR).

17 – Banca Transilvania Key Figures

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Note: In 2019, there were 550,000 BT Pay users.
Source: Banca Transilvania.

Digital & Card Payment Yearbooks