Compared to 2005, the number of credit and debit cards increased 7.7 per cent, the number of automated teller machines rose 10.8 per cent to 2,547 and that of EFT POS (Electronic Funds Transfer at the Point of Sale) terminals by 4.4 per cent to 57,419.
Most of the cards, 80.1 per cent, accounted for bank debit cards, 11.3 per cent were credit cards issued by credit card companies and the remaining 8.6 per cent were those issued by banks.
The survey, covering 25 banks and credit card companies, also revealed a growing share of smart cards, whose number increased by 27.7 per cent, from 313,897 cards at the end of 2004 to 2,193,317 cards at the end of September 2006.
From the beginning of January until the end of September 2006, the financial institutions covered by the survey recorded 56.1 billion kuna worth of card transactions, of which 42.1 billion kuna were cash withdrawals while the remaining 14 billion kuna related to payments.
The total value of 69.8 million transactions carried out via automated teller machines throughout the country was 44.47 billion kuna, or 636.53 kuna per transaction on the average. The total value of 72.2 million transactions at EFT POS terminals was 18.35 billion kuna, or 253.9 kuna per transaction on the average.