OREANDA-NEWS.  January 19, 2012. Azerbaijan’s national postal operator Azerpoct starts issuance of MasterCard plastic cards since February.

Communications & IT Ministry Postal Office’s head Novruz Mammadov says that cards will be issued depending on population’s demand.

" At the initial stage in 2012 we plan to issue 5,000-10,000 cards, but as demand grows, the volume of emissions will also rise," he added.

To date, there is an agreement signed between MasterCard and Azerpoct on issue of cards and acquiring. Azerpocht’s non-cash transactions will be served by processing center Millikart.

Azerpoct’s long-term plans include bringing of transactions volume up to 5 million per year and issue of up to 100,000 payment cards.

In 3 years Azerpoct intends to open 500,000 client accounts. During this period it is planned to raise the number of transactions conducted through postal financial network, up to 5 million operations per year.

In parallel, Azerpoct is holding talks with international payment system Visa International.