BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, September 2. The number of cards belonging to Russian "Zolotaya Korona" [Golden Crown] payment system in circulation in Kyrgyzstan is decreasing, Trend reports.
The services of the "Zolotaya Korona" payment system are currently available in Russia, the CIS countries.
The data of Kyrgyzstan's National Bank shows that there were only 94,263 cards in the entire country as of the end of June 2023, compared to 95,363 cards in the first quarter of the current year.
Despite the reduction in the number of cards in circulation, "Zolotaya Korona" continued to lead in Kyrgyzstan for both incoming and outgoing money transfers. In terms of the number of cards, "Zolotaya Korona" held the second position, with "Visa" taking the top spot with 2.682 million cards.
The decrease in card usage has accelerated since 2018, with the most substantial reduction in cards in circulation observed from 2020 to 2021, plummeting by 70.2 percent.
According to the National Bank of the country, the total number of active banking payment cards in Kyrgyzstan reached 6.102 million as of June 2023, which is a 16.6-percent increase since the beginning of the year.
A total of 53.6 million transactions were conducted via payment cards in Kyrgyzstan from January through June 2023, with the total value of these transactions amounting to 203 billion soms ($2.2 billion).
