For the first eight months of the year, credit and debit bank card transactions have been of RD$283 billion. These are expected to amount to RD$423 billion by the end of 2021, according to the Dominican Banking Association (ABA). This is up from RD$222.6 billion in 2014, reflecting the steady preference of financial services users.
The volume of point-of-sale transactions is expected to reach 192.7 million transactions by year’s end.
The ABA indicates that 96% of the operations are local transactions and 4% for transactions abroad.
58% of the active bank cards are debit cards, 27.6% are credit cards and 12.1% are government-subsidized cards and 2.3% prepaid cards.
From 2014 to 2020, the number of active debit cards showed an upward trend, but during the first eight months of 2021, there was a 6.2% decline, with 317,884 less activated cards.
The performance of credit cards was similar, with a reduction since 2020 of 186,262 cards. Nevertheless, in 2021 (up to August), there is a 5.8% rebound (128,181 new cards), said the ABA.
In the case of government subsidy cards, ABA noted that in 2020 there was a sharp increase over the previous year of 1,624,249 new cards (317% increase) due to the measures taken by the Dominican government with programs to support people affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The ABA says that since 2017, multiple banks have been implementing contactless payment technology. The platforms allow for more agile and secure transactions at the points of sale in stores. As of August 2021, 23.7% of debit cards (1,166,175 cards) and 32.2% of credit cards (751,836 cards) are contactless.
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Dominican Banks Association
22 October 2021