Money, money circulation and credit - страница 18

The following laws and regulations make a legal framework of plastic cards functioning on the territory of Kazakhstan:

The National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan board of directors’ decision dated from August 24, 2000 № 331 «About the regulations adoption of payment cards issue and application in the Republic of Kazakhstan)).

The National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan board of directors’ decision dated from July 2, 2002 № 713 «About the programme establishment of the National interbank system of payment cards on the basis of microprocessing cards development).

The National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan board of directors’ decision dated from December 23, 2002 № 510 «About the regulations adoption of the National interbank system of payment cards on the basis of microprocessing cards functioning).

For the first time the cash machines were implemented by several commercial banks in 1997. In the end of 2002 in Kazakhstan 702 cash machines functioned whereby their quantity grew on 30 % against 2001. To the beginning of 2010 6956 cash machines functioned already.

As on July 1, 2009 there are 19 banks and Kazpost JSC which perform plastic cards issue indeed. And the second-tier banks issue plastic cards of local systems: Altyn Card (Halyk Bank of Kazakhstan, JSC and ATF Bank, JSC); SmartAlemCard (BTA Bank, JSC); the local card of Citibank Kazakhstan (Citibank Kazakhstan, JSC) and Temir Card (BTA Bank, JSC, Temirbank, JSC).

Besides Kazakh banks issue and distribute payment cards of international systems: VISA International, Europay International, American Express International, China Union Pay and Diners Club International.

For the last five years the development of plastic cards in Kazakhstan became one of the most dynamically developing financial instruments of cashless settlement and credit money forms.

The 1^>st table shows that beginning from 2004 till July of 2009 all the other indexes of plastic cards market development in our Republic grew. Thus the circulated cards quantity for the analyzed period increased on more than 5 million items or by 4 times and ran at 7039.7 thousand items, consequently the average monthly balance on the cards’ accounts against the beginning of 2006 on 63124.4 million tenge.

Table 1

The plastic cards market development indexes in Kazakhstan

As on January 1, 2010 banks issued 7.6 millions of payment cards and the quantity of these cards holders reached 7.1 million people (against the analogue period of 2009 – growth on 6.5 and 7,0 % consequently). The most widely-spread payment cards are cards of international systems, their share reached 97.1 %, local systems – 2.1 %.

In December, 2009 the transaction volumes with payment cards usage of the Kazakhstans emitters composed 300.6 billion tenge (the growth in compare with December, 2008 composed 18.4 %). The transactions’ quantity for December, 2009 reached 12.6 million and increased against December, 2008 to 14.1 %. Whereby the growth of wire transfers quantity reached 23.8 % (2.2 million transactions) and the quantity of cash withdrawal operations – 12.2 % (10.3 million transactions).

Plastic cards are manufactured from a special plastic and basically have a standard size: 2.125»x3.375» (about 53.9x85.6 mm.) and width – 0.039 (~ 0.76 mm.).

Plastic cards can be classified according to a variety of parameters. One of the main is an intended purpose. Cards can be devided on banking (sometimes they are called payment) and nonbanking (identification, club and discount).