NEWS: Angolans to Have Credit Cards
The African nation of Angola has been one of the
last nations on the continent to bring credit
cards into its economy, mostly due to its very
young economy – under 5% of Angolan citizens
have a bank account. That number has been
growing steadily, however, and thanks to an
agreement with the Angolan government, five
banks will soon be able to roll out credit card
programs there for the first time ever! The five
banks, including three Portuguese institutions (Banco
International de Crédito, Banco Fometo de Angola
and Banco Espírito Santo Angola), have signed
individual agreements with the government, and
will only distribute and deal with Visa cards,
at first. The move comes after criticism of the
Angolan government as not being oriented to the
consumers, at which level there has been a big
push for plastic. An Egyptian company has been
contracted to manage the cards.
A statement from a head government official
stated that, while Angola's total deposit
accounts are small at the immediate present, the
steady trend towards growth and expansion of
bank institutions and branches in the nation has
been very promising, and leads them to believe
that the time is right to introduce credit
cards. The introduction of the credit cards into
the Angolan economy is expected to facilitate
banking and business transaction, further
boosting the financial system. The credit cards
are anticipated to be available to consumers in
two months' time.
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