Garanti: We spent 1.2m euros on Bonus Card launch

Turkey-based Garanti Bank spent 1.2 million euros last year to promote the “Bonus Card” branded credit card, launched as part of its retail market campaign. Currently, the bank has over 12,000 cards in its portfolio, while the value of cumulated lines of credit granted amounts to 7.5 million euros. “We sell between 1,500 and 2,000 credit cards per month. In July and August we saw a slowdown in our activity, but we will make up for it starting in September,” says Ilgaz Kaya, manager of the card department of Garanti Bank. From the approved limits, the clients used 2.5 million euros in funding. “We have an acceptance problem in Romania. Big merchants have started to accept cards, but there are still many places left where one can only pay in cash,” says Kaya, who added that banks must collaborate in order for the network to develop.