Bulgarians use their debit cards mostly to withdraw their salaries from the ATMs, shows a survey of the My Money internet portal. 

It took place among 1500 visitors of the site in April. 

The results show that even though 84% of the respondents said they have a debit card, the majority of them are not aware of some of the basic characteristics and do not know how to use the card to its full capacity. 

Around 16% of the respondents, for example, said they do not know if they can use their card abroad, or only in Bulgaria.  

Fifty-six per cent said they use it only to withdraw cash from the ATM and 40% have used it to pay for goods at a POS terminal. 

The survey shows that the majority of card holders are aware that the banks charge a fee for cash withdrawals and 73% of them know that it is lower if they use an ATM of the issuing bank. Twenty-two percent, however, do not know how much is this fee and 38% could not say how much was the fee for withdrawing cash from another bank's ATM. 

Twenty-three percent do not know if there is a monthly maintenance fee for their card, 31% do not know that the sum in the card account brings them an interest rate and 43% did not know how much the interest is.