People are becoming increasingly active in using credit cards

Estonian people’s use of credit cards has shown a clear growth trend in the past year, revealed SEB’s analysis of customer data. As opposed to the early years of credit cards, people in Estonia prefer to use credit cards domestically. Still, travelling remains one of the most popular usage areas of credit cards.

If in the beginning of 2015, the usage frequency of credit cards was 3 times per month, then by the summer of 2017 it is steadily exceeding 4.2 times per month. The growth trend is evident both in the usage frequency of cards as well as the average transaction sum, which is currently 45 euros. 71% of the usage instances takes place in Estonia, and 29% abroad. People are also becoming more and more active in using credit cards for online purchases. In the past year, the share of purchases made online amounted to 30%, which is a rather high figure in Europe. 70% of card transactions are still made through payment terminals.

“Estonians are becoming increasingly active in using credit cards. While in the past they were rather a means for booking tickets and hotels for travel, developments of the past few years have turned them into a hygiene factor in managing one’s finances: credit cards are used for convenience, as well as making purchases without using one’s savings. The developments are also driven by the new functionalities of SEB credit cards, that enable one to use the money on the current account with the credit card and to transfer the credit limit to one’s current account,” comments Ainar Leppänen, Head of the SEB Retail Banking and Technology Area.  

“It is also interesting that the growth trend of credit cards and consumer loans goes hand-in-hand with the growth of deposits, which clearly shows that Estonians take a conscious approach towards maintaining their savings and manage their daily finances with several financial products,” adds Leppänen.

The conscious approach to the use of credit cards is also evident in the fact that during recent years the average number of credit cards per user has decreased to 2. It also indicates that the banks’ clients have found the products that suit them and are not carrying 3–4 different credit cards in their wallet.
 

For more information:

Julia Piilmann
Communications Manager
Marketing and Communications Division
SEB Pank

Phone +372 665 5340
Address Tornimäe 2, 15010 Tallinn
e-mail julia.piilmann@seb.ee
www.seb.ee