SANTO DOMINGO. - The volume of online purchases made with bank cards doubled in national businesses, going from 16.7 million transactions in September 2022 to 33 million in the same month of the current year, representing a growth of 98%, reported the Association of Multiple Banks of the Dominican Republic (ABA).
In this regard, the ABA considered that these results denote a remarkable dynamism in national commerce and highlight the growing digitization of this sector, as well as the facilities offered by banks and businesses to users for their purchases with debit and credit cards.
He detailed that overall, as of September 2023, 70.7 million transactions were registered locally and internationally with cards issued by multiple banks operating in the Dominican Republic, representing an increase of 16.8 million, or 31.1% more compared to the previous period, according to Central Bank statistics.
Regarding the values transacted, the banking association reported that there was also a significant increase in the total of online purchases made with cards, reaching RD$139,659 million for this period, which meant an increase of RD$24.7 billion in absolute values and 21.5% in relative terms, compared to the same date of the previous year.
According to a document prepared by the ABA Technical Directorate, the value of these transactions increased by RD$12.2 billion in local businesses, registering RD$55.9 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2023; meanwhile, the amounts traded internationally increased by RD$12.5 billion, for a total of RD$83.7 billion, as of the same date.
Transactions according to card type
In that same order, the Banking Association reported that the most used cards for online transactions with local businesses were debit cards, with 52.5% of operations; followed by credit cards, with 47.4% and the remaining 0.01% corresponded to prepaid cards.
In online purchases made internationally, debit cards were used most frequently at 54.1%; followed by credit cards at 45.7% of transactions, and prepaid cards were used in the remaining 0.2%, the trade association specified in a press release.
Taking these statistics into account, the ABA highlighted the significant evolution in the volume of transactions and the value of online purchases using bank cards, within a payment system environment in the Dominican Republic that operates in a robust, secure, and efficient manner across multiple banks.
