The number of payment cards in Azerbaijan reached 23.388 million at the end of September, rising by 414,000, or 1.8%, in one month as consumers adapted to new card-to-card transfer restrictions.
The monthly increase was more than twice the 189,000-card gain recorded in August, when the total reached 22.974 million, according to Central Bank of Azerbaijan payment-system data.
Economist Natig Jafarli said the acceleration showed that restrictions were prompting people to obtain several cards. After limits were imposed on incoming transfers, some users opened additional cards to distribute payments, he wrote in a Facebook post.
Some banks later limited customers’ ability to obtain multiple debit cards of the same category and currency. Jafarli said that rule was unlikely to eliminate the behavior because customers could instead open cards at other banks.
“When there is dandruff, you don’t cut off the head; you find and treat the cause,” he said.
Jafarli said that if the restrictions are intended to curb tax evasion, authorities should examine why small businesses conceal turnover, including the tax burden and additional operating costs that encourage businesses to seek workarounds.
He urged policymakers to assess the likely consequences of restrictions before introducing them, arguing that additional limits complicate transactions for customers and banks without addressing the underlying causes.
Source: Vesti Baku