Credit card

Nearly BGN 4 B have been spent with Bulgarian bank cards in 2015, showed the latest survey of a large card company.

The practice of paying income and property taxes to the state via credit card in nine or 12 monthly installments has been taken up by many more taxpayers in 2016, as they find themselves being required to pay more in tax every year.

Taxpayers can get rid of any paper receipts they have collected so far this year, according to statements by Alternate Finance Minister Tryfon Alexiadis on Friday.

A 39-year-old Albanian national was arrested in central Athens on Saturday over charges of allegedly using hacked credit card details to make purchases on the Internet.

The suspect was detained at a store while collecting a mobile phone he had purchased.

Ankara has announced a number of new measures on credit cards and loans in an attempt to ease the strain on consumers and stimulate economic activity. 

Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said late on Sept. 21 that credit card payment installment limits had been increased from nine to 12, while restrictions on food, telecommunications and fuel purchases would continue. 

The number of banking cards surpassed 171 million in Turkey in 2015, a 15 percent increase from the previous year, making the country the largest card-carrying market in Europe, the Interbank Card Center (BKM) has said in a written statement.

Travel junkies agree that being single and childless helps loosen the belt on their travel budget. One of the keys to traveling on the cheap is a tactic called “travel hacking”. Basically, all that is required is to open credit cards with sign-up mileage bonuses with rewards and downpayments that help jet-setters travel for less than average using miles rather than mileage.

Cash Credit, a Bulgarian non-banking financial institution, is taking the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) to court over the latter's decision to impose sanctions on it for issuing credit card without having a license to do so.

The company has said that the BNB did not cite any motives for its ruling.

Around 2,000 jewelry stores were closed down in Turkey last year as jewelry spending has decreased amid limitations on credit card installments and consumers instead spending on electronics and vacations, according to sector representatives.

The sector has also been losing blood amid dramatic decreases in neighboring countries, including Iraq, Egypt and Russia, they added. 

A Perth real estate agent has lost more than AUS $50,000 in a fake Greek wedding accomodation spam that drew the attention of the Western Australian Consumer Protection group that is now warning all tourism operators to be wary. The scammers, believed to be operating from Nigeria, used stolen credit cards in a complex story about arranging a Greek wedding to obtain money.