The payments under 20.00 BGN are still predominantly in cash. Nikola Bakalov, Director of Card Payments for "Monitor" daily

The average value of transactions under BGN 20 in trade facilities are predominantly in cash while in the case of transactions in hotels visited mainly by foreigners there are more card payments. According to the director “Card payments” in First Investment Bank - Nikola Bakalov it is a question of personal choice whether the debit card or the credit card shall be used in case of payment at a POS Terminal. For the clients of First Investment Bank he recommends the use of credit card – the transactions are free of charge and they give bonus points which can easily be converted into money.

The only advantage of drawing sums from ATM instead of card payment is that ATMs are more wide-spread than POS terminals. The payment at POS terminals is preferred to ATM drawing because it is cheaper, most often free of charge, and when there is a fee it is in times lower than drawing cash from ATM for the same amount. Non-cash payment very often brings bonuses varying depending on the bank and last but not least gives a better accountability – in the bank statements it could easily be checked when and in which store the sum is being spent, explained Mr. Bakalov.

The only thing we have to check before we make a card payment transaction is whether the trade facility accepts it. Usually the accepted brands are signified with stickers at the entrance of the stores or near the cash desk.

The risks when paying at POS terminal are considerably low and are mainly associated with copying the data from cards with magnetic tape, explained Mr. Bakalov. "It is very important to look at the card during the process of transaction", he stated. The other risk is connected with the mistake of the cashier at the POS terminal when he/she enters the wrong sum at the device. First Investment Bank advises all clients before entering the PIN code or signing the receipt to check the validity of the entered sum on the screen of the POS terminal.

Nikola Bakalov enlists the advantages of payment by card:

• More convenient - you can have the necessary sum close at hand.
• More secure - you are not required to carry a lost of money in cash that could be eventually stolen. 
• More responsible - When there is a financial crisis the limiting of expenses is extremely useful and the electronic and paper bank statement gives exact information of what and when has been spent. In this way at the end of the month you can specify what to restrain from buying next time.
• Faster – You do not have to search for small change and banknotes, you will not face the problem: "I can not bring you back the change"
• More exciting - banks and card organizations give their best to make the use of cards more exciting and start different promotion campaigns.
• Extreme easiness during travel - you are not required to carry currency, most of the cards in the country are international, you can pay everywhere, the sum is deducted in the currency of the card (most often BGN).
• It is better to promote this kind of payment for the whole country - cash payments are expensive and in the long run are paid by the tax payers. This means that cash payments are not free of charge as it looks in the first instance. The investments for card payments are made by the commercial banks.