COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
Mastercard leads, but Visa offers lower interchange fees
Mastercard continued to be the leading operator in credit cards and further strengthened its position in 2024 through new partnerships. Mastercard is seen as more innovative as compared to Visa, particularly by fintechs and digital-first banks.
Raiffeisen leads in personal credit cards, while Bance Transilvania leads in commercial
Austrian Raiffeisen Bank is the leading issuer of personal credit cards and is known for its innovative solutions. In 2025, the bank launched a new feature for new credit card customers, where as soon as the credit card limit is approved and granted, the card is available in its banking app, thus allowing customers immediate access to the limit granted by the bank.
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Overview:
Understand the latest market trends and future growth opportunities for the Credit Card Transactions industry in Romania with research from Euromonitor International's team of in-country analysts – experts by industry and geographic specialisation.
Key trends are clearly and succinctly summarised alongside the most current research data available. Understand and assess competitive threats and plan corporate strategy with our qualitative analysis, insight and confident growth projections.
If you're in the Credit Card Transactions industry in Romania, our research will help you to make informed, intelligent decisions; to recognise and profit from opportunity, or to offer resilience amidst market uncertainty.
The Credit Card Transactions in Romania report includes:
- Analysis of key supply-side and demand trends
- Detailed segmentation of international and local products
- Historic volume and value sizes, company and brand market shares
- Five year forecasts of market trends and market growth
- Robust and transparent research methodology, conducted in-country
This report answers:
- What is the market size of Credit Card Transactions in Romania?
- What are the major trends key to understanding Credit Card Transactions in Romania?
- How has COVID-19, recession and macroeconomic volatility impacted the market?
- How long will the market take to recover? What are the opportunities now?
- How will political context and shifting cultural values shape future growth?
- Where is future growth expected to be most dynamic?
Charge Cards in Romania - Category analysis
Charge Cards in Romania - Company Profile
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Charge cards remain niche
Continuing limited uptake
Limited innovation, as well as cap on interchange fees stymies growth in personal charge cards
Limited growth over forecast period
Multinationals continue to be main client
American Express only operator and issuer
Credit Cards in Romania - Category analysis
Credit Cards in Romania - Company Profile
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Added incentives for credit cards, due to intense competition from BNPL
Modest growth in credit cards
Contrasting forces impact credit card spending
Positive outlook over forecast period
Increasing rewards on offer
Neobanks such as Revolut post increasing threat
Mastercard leads, but Visa offers lower interchange fees
Raiffeisen leads in personal credit cards, while Bance Transilvania leads in commercial
Debit Cards in Romania - Category analysis
Debit Cards in Romania - Company Profile
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Continuing shift away from cash
Continuing growth in debit cards, as Romania becomes less cash reliant
Debit cards increasingly used for everyday transactions
Continuing growth over forecast period
Increasing competition from fintechs, as well as alternatives to debit cards
Increasing digitisation of debit cards
Visa leading operator
Banca Transilvania leading issuer
Pre-Paid Cards in Romania - Category analysis
Pre-Paid Cards in Romania - Company Profile
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Revolut drives significant growth
Continuing growth, particularly in open loop cards
Increasing use of contactless payments drives growth in transactions
Significant growth in transaction value over forecast period
Fintechs and government programmes drive growth, with closed loop in decline
Should cap on interchange fees be introduced, it could dampen growth
Mastercard leading operator in open loop pre-paid cards, while Revolut is leading issuer
Transport company leads in closed loop, though sector highly fragmented
Financial Cards and Payments in Romania - Industry Overview
Newly imposed mandatory merchant card acceptance key driver in growth
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Though cash is still popular, financial cards register growth
Shift from physical cards to digital
RoPay, a new mobile payment system gaining traction
Steady growth over forecast period
Traditional banks face increasing competition from neobanks
RoPay could emerge as serious competitor to financial cards
Visa leading operator, but Mastercard close behind
Bance Transylvania largest issuer, with Revolut in second place
DISCLAIMER
The following categories and subcategories are included:
Credit Card Transactions
- Commercial Credit Card Transactions
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- Average Personal Credit Card Balance
- Average Personal Credit Card Limit
- Personal Credit Card Utilisation
Credit Card Transactions
Credit cards allow for purchases against a preapproved line of credit. The account holder has the choice of whether to pay off the entire balance each month or opt for monthly instalments with the balance serving as revolving credit. If the cardholder decides to revolve a balance, the consumer pays interest. Credit cards can include affinity cards, reward cards and types of co-branded cards. Co-branded retailer cards—issued by retailers acting as financial institutions and without usage restrictions—are included in this category. Cards issued by a retailer with usage limited to a specific store within a predefined retail group fall under the store cards definition. Debit cards with an overdraft function are not counted as cards with a credit function. Payments are tracked based on the country of residence / account issuance and include outbound spend while excluding inbound spend.
See all of our definitionsWhy buy this report?
- Gain competitive intelligence about market leaders
- Track key industry trends, opportunities and threats
- Inform your marketing, brand, strategy and market development, sales and supply functions
This report originates from Passport, our Credit Card Transactions research and analysis database.
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