BCR has the largest network of ATMs

The number of BCR ATM transactions rose last year by over 6 percent, to some 41 million. BCR installed its first ATM in December 1995. “We improved the level of safety and availability of the ATM network by 85 percent in 2006, and by 92 percent in 2007, by significantly reducing the number of machines posting messages of temporary unavailability and reducing down time,” according to a communique by Igor Zganjer, CEO of BCR’s Card Department. The value of cash withdrawals from ATMs by the end of 2007 rose by some 26 percent year-on-year, to about RON 12 billion.

Furthermore, the number of invoice payments through ATMs increased last year, compared to 2006, by 5.2 percent, to some 710,000, with the value of such transactions advancing 9 percent, to some RON 110 mln.

“We are attempting to promote a change in banking culture, from cash to ATM and “plastic,” added Zganjer.

BCR has signed some 170 conventions with various service and utility suppliers for the payment of invoices at its ATMs. The bank manages over 450,000 payment options.

The bank also has the largest network of POS’, up to some 13,000 available, mostly with stores. BCR also claims the largest number of active cards in Romania, of over 2.4 million, according to its own data. Of these, over 90 percent are debit cards, while the number of credit cards, issued by BCR alone or in partnership, now exceeds 175,000.