The number of cards being issued in Russia and the spending made with the cards’ use were on the rise in the first half of 2017, the country’s Central Bank announced. Russian banks issued almost 260 million payment cards in the first six months of 2017, which is 10 million up on the same period of the previous year. As of July 1, 2016, there were 133.5 million active cards, i.e., cards that were used by their holders to conduct transactions within the reporting period. This year, the number stands at 144 million active cards.

In the first six months of the year, as many as 10.9 billion transactions were processed with the use of plastic cards to the tune of RUB27.6 trillion (USD467 billion). Over eight billion transactions were performed for a total of 7.7 trillion rubles (USD130 billion) worth of products and services.