Growth in Bank Card Use

Data published by Iran's domestic payment network's supervisory body, Shaparak, show 10% monthly growth in the number of active bank cards in the last month of the last  fiscal year that ended on March 20.
More than 139 million bank cards, including debit cards, credit cards and prepaid cards, were used at least once during the month period. Despite the growth, the proportion of cards was almost unchanged, with debit cards accounting for 94% of the total, followed by prepaid cards at 5% and credit cards less than one percent.
According to the data, the total number of active bank cards was 124 million during the same period last year.
The number of debit cards reached 130 million, up 9.2% on the month before. State-run banks accounted for the highest number of debit cards during the period. Bank Melli Iran issued 22% of the debit cards, followed by Bank Sepah with 12.19%. Two privatize lenders Bank Mellat with 11% and Bank Saderat with 10% were next.