24 October, Vitebsk /Diana Kurilo - BELTA/. The share of non-cash payments using bank plastic cards in the retail turnover of the Vitebsk region for 9 months of 2011 increased and reached 9.3%, the main department of the National Bank for the Vitebsk region informed a BELTA correspondent. The share of non-cash operations in the total volume of card operations is also increasing. If at the beginning of the current year their share was 12%, then according to data as of October 1, it was almost 15%. As noted by the main department, the number of terminals for servicing bank plastic cards continues to grow at the fastest pace in trade and service facilities. If since the beginning of the year the number of terminals as a whole has increased by 18% and amounted to 7.6 thousand, then in trade and service facilities their number has increased by a quarter from 4.3 thousand to 5.3 thousand. According to data as of October 1, there are almost 1.2 million bank plastic cards in circulation among the region's residents. In fact, there are 953 plastic cards per 1,000 residents, while as of January 1, 2011, there were 886. The Main Department of the National Bank notes that the growth of infrastructure outpaces the growth in the number of plastic cards: if the issuance of bank cards has increased by 7% since the beginning of the year, then the number of terminals has increased by 18%, and ATMs by 8%. -0-

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