Iran’s banking industry is showing renewed interest in issuing credit cards. Data released by the Central Bank of Iran indicates 70% increase in the number of active credit cards up until October.
As per a report issued by Shaparak Company, a CBI-affiliate in charge of supervising the domestic payment network, the total number of active credit cards was 192,693 in the month to October 21, marking a dramatic increase compared to the same period last year.
Credit cards were not the norm and were limited to VIPs. But now that is changing and CBI policy of promoting credit cards as an instrument for microloans seems to have influenced banks' decision to rethink.
However, Shaparak data shows private banks are still reluctant and shown no interest in issuing credit cards. So far credit cards have been issued largely by state-owned banks and major privatized lenders.
Bank Melli Iran accounted for more than 27% of active credit cards in the said period. Bank Mellat was next with 23% followed by Bank Saderat Iran and Bank Sepah with 10.7% and 10.3% shares, respectively.
Iranian banks currently issue credit cards, debit cards, and gift cards. Credit cards still account for the lowest portion of total bank cards. Shaparak data shows that more than 111.19 million bank cards were used at least once during the month ending October 21, more than 96% of which were debit cards.
According to Shaparak, Bank Melli Iran accounts for 22.25% of all active bank cards. Bank Mellat and Bank Saderat Iran follow, accounting for 11.36% and 11.27%, respectively. Melli and Parsian Bank were the top issuers of gift cards with 15.53% and 15.52%, respectively.
