Interest-free instalments prop up credit card sales

Schemes of purchases in instalments carrying zero interest have been driving sales of credit cards this year, despite the prolonged recession and clients' rising reluctance to lending products.
Raiffeisen introduced the facility in spring and says that in May-September period sales of new cards remained flat from a year ago, with the value of approved lines of credit standing at 60m RON (around 14m euros). After the first nine months, Raiffeisen had a portfolio of 328,000 credit cards, ranking second on this segment after Turkey's Credit Europe Bank, which was the first to bring this model domestically.
Garanti, the domestic subsidiary of one of Turkey's most powerful financial groups, in late September reached a portfolio of 108,000 cards. "In the first nine months of this year, we sold 34,000 credit cards, lower against the same period of last year," stated the bank's representatives. The bank expects to end 2010 with 115,000 issued cards, way below early 2010 expectations.
Retailers have rapidly embraced the system in a bid to boost sales hurt by recession.