The FINANCIAL — The number of internet transactions increased from 140,000 to 230,000 in comparison to last year.
The total turnover of internet transactions increased from 3.4 million GEL to 7.4 million GEL.
In spite of the fact that internet and communication technologies are constantly developing, Zura Gvasalia President of ABG, believes that they can’t fully replace traditional banking.
“It’s expected that the share of remote banking services will significantly grow in the future. Although we have to envisage that the process depends on the number of internet users. Some banks issue customer loans and overdrafts with the help of an online application. But as a rule these kinds of credits are issued in the frame of salary projects,” Gvasalia told The FINANCIAL.
It’s remarkable that local banks including Bank of Georgia have started issuing SMS loans. SMS loans allow one to cover and take out a new loan at the same time. Special terms are negotiated in advance. The monthly salary of the customer must be appropriate for the terms of the consumer loan.
“The new regulations by National Bank of Georgia are oriented on the protection of consumer rights. Among them is the strategy of e-commerce development.
The recent initiative of NBG – “Provision of Necessary Service information to Bank Customers”, which has been enforced since 1 June, is totally based on the demand for transparency. The banks will have to maximally protect customer rights.
Although the Georgian banking sector has made some positive steps to protect consumer rights, there still exist some customer grievances. These equally refer to the terms of a loan or a deposit issue as well as the rule of amendments to the contract”.
“According to the data of April 2011, the number of valid cards amounted to 2,780,000. The unconditional leader among all the emitted cards is Visa. Visa cards compose 92% of the debit cards which are in circulation these days. MasterCard and American Express are popular as well.
Q. Recently Goodwill announced the opening of its online supermarket. In your opinion why don’t we have many online shops in Georgia in spite of the large number of credit cards?
A. The development of e-commerce and internet technologies will increase the number of online shops. These days what’s most popular among the population is online shopping on various internet websites. However many websites are non-licensed. Sometimes the websites can cause serious problems, such as late delivery, low quality of the enlisted goods, including account theft as well.
The chain of internet shops first of all envisages licensed websites with appropriate protection and guarantees. To have an online shop is related to significant expenses. Corresponding to the spending, only famous brands have e-shops even in Europe. Consequently the growth of e-commerce is in direct relation to the expansion of trade and customer service centres, like Goodwill.
Q. According to your data, what kind of services or goods are mainly paid for by card?
A. In Georgia payment by credit card is often used in supermarkets. In recent times cards have been used when buying domestic products and electronics. A trustworthy source of the tendency is the increasing number of POS terminals in the trade centres. In comparison to April 2010 their number increased by 30% this year.
Q. What was the overall number of transactions by credit cards in 2010?
A. The number of payments made by credit card is continuously increasing in Georgia. As of April 2011 their number was 3.8 million. The total amount of the transactions had risen by 544 million GEL. In comparison to June 2010, this year the number of transactions increased to 110 million GEL.
The tendency of the growing number of plastic cards will be remarkable in the future as well. It is conditioned by the concession terms the banks offer to their customers. The emitted cards ensure the discounts for the customers in the bank’s partner trade and customer centres. So-called cash-back cards are becoming more popular this year. If a customer uses a cash-back card he/she gets 5-15% percent of the money he spent.
In the future the increase of transactions by credit card will depend on the development of the economy, employment and income rates in the country.
Q. What is the total number of ATMs and POS terminals in Georgia?
A. In 2010 the number of ATMs amounted to 1,512. The number of POS terminals operated in trade and service centres is 7,687, while the number of POS terminals in banks and branch offices reached 2,599.
The number of POS terminals significantly increased in comparison to the same period of last year.
Q. What are the security guarantee terms of the banking sector specifically for online transactions?
A. Unfortunately absolute security for online payment systems does not exist. There have been occasions when the world’s leading banking organizations have become the targets of hackers. As a rule Georgia can’t be the exception. But what I can assure you is that all commercial banks of Georgia have a high level programme security system which is served by highly qualified professionals.
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