On 4th May, in the middle of the long holiday, 51 branches of UniCredit Bulbank will work in 23 towns across the country.

Throughout the Holy Week and most of all on Holy Wednesday and Holy Thursday, all Bulgarians go shopping for their Easter gatherings. This is shown by UniCredit Bulbank's statistics of payments through POS terminals and withdrawals at the bank's ATMs for last year's Easter holidays.

"We are glad that thanks to the effort also of UniCredit Bulbank for development of the card payments, Bulgarians more often reach for their cards instead of their cash, especially on holidays, when we traditionally spend more", said Pasquale Giamboi, Head of Retail Banking and member of the Management Board of UniCredit Bulbank. His words are confirmed also by the data provided by the bank's card unit, which show a more intensive use of POS terminals before Easter and preserving of the levels of the withdrawn amounts.

"During the Easter holidays we traditionally expect an increase in payments. Generally the use of POS terminals during the Holy Week grows by 10%, compared to the 1% decrease in ATMs", commented Mariana Velikova-Chausheva, Head of Cards Department at UniCredit Bulbank.

Last year on Holy Wednesday and Holy Thursday the total amount of payments made at the POS terminals of UniCredit Bulbank was BGN 1.5 million or nearly 45% more than on non-holidays. The total amount of the withdrawn funds at ATMs for the same period was BGN 20.5 million. At the same time consumers avoid withdrawing money during Holy Saturday and Easter, preferring the convenience of shopping with their cards. This is confirmed by the 30% growth in the amount of POS payments for those two days compared to the ordinary consumption. For comparison, the money withdrawn at ATMs on Holy Saturday and Easter are 30% less than on non-holidays.

The data shows that except in the days preceding them, during the Easter holidays there is no significant change in online payments. The average purchase amount on the eve of Holy Thursday in 2012 was BGN 3,471 or 34% more than on non-holidays.

On 4th May, in the middle of the long holiday, 51 branches of UniCredit Bulbank will work in 23 towns across the country. Clients will be able to use the services of all branches of the bank which normally work on Saturdays. Most of them will be open from 10 h to 14 h, whereas the bank branches in shopping centers will serve clients all day. Despite the long holiday, UniCredit Bulbank will monitor the working order of its ATMs and if necessary, technical problems will be remedied too. The ATMs of the bank will be regularly replenished, including those in the resorts.

They can be used not only for withdrawal of cash but also for making recurrent payments to a growing number of traders and utility providers such as Toplofikatsia (central heating), Vodosnabdiavane (water supply), Elektrosnabdiavane (power supply), mobile operators, etc. The clients may also easily and free of charge, at any time of the day or the week, subscribe their card for the Secure Online Payments service. In 2012 the bank started a gradual installment of BNAs, i.e. ATMs which allow not only withdrawal but also depositing funds to a debit or credit card. Such can be found in Sofia, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Sliven, Burgas, Varna, Veliko Tarnovo, Pleven, Gabrovo, Blagoevgrad and Kyustendil.

UniCredit Bulbank reminds all of its cardholders that the withdrawal from ATMs of UniCredit with debit cards is without fee – both in Bulgaria and abroad.

UniCredit Bulbank reminds the good practices in the use of bank cards:

• Storing the card with the appropriate care and attention;

• Using the card and the card details always personally by the cardholder;

• Changing the PIN at an ATM immediately after receiving the card, and memorizing it by the client;

• Covering by hand the entering of the PIN upon withdrawal of money from ATMs;

• Including the card in the Secure Online Payments Service;

• Subscribing the card for the SMS notification service.

If a bank card is blocked or there are any other problems with the performing of operations at an ATM of the bank, clients may use the phones of the dedicated call operators: 02/933 72 12 and the short number for calling from mobile phones -15 21

Further information about the branches working on Saturdays and ATM locations in the country is posted on the website of UniCredit Bulbank www.unicreditbulbank.bg.

More information for clients:

UniCredit Bulbank, Call Centre

Phone: 0700 1 84 84

More information for media:

UniCredit Bulbank, Identity & Communications Department

Viktoria Blajeva, Phone: + 359 2 9264 993, wjlj/ebwjepwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch

Ekaterina Ancheva, Phone: + 359 2 9264 963, flbufsjob/bodifwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch

Magdalena Ivanova, Phone: + 359 2 9232 528, nbhebmfob/jwbopwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch