The number of debit cards issued in Hungary has increased, while the number of credit cards dropped in the preceding three months.

For the full year, the number of card payments exceeded 765 million, up 24%, as the total value of purchases rose to a record high of Ft 5.5 trillion, a 23% increase.

In the fourth quarter, the number of payment cards issued in Hungary increased by 190,000 to 9.4 million.

The number of cards allowing wireless payments grew by 251,000 between October and December and by 844,000 in 2018 as a whole.

Contactless cards accounted for 79% of all payments by bank card.

The MNB said there was a 60% increase in bank card fraud to 16,000, most of it connected to online purchases. More than two-thirds of the cases involved cross-border traffic.