"We are the market leader in all European markets bar Slovenia, but we plan to change that in a few years' time," Catalin Cretu, the company's manager for Romania, Malta, Croatia, and Slovenia, told the press in Ljubljana on Wednesday.

According to Visa Europe, EUR 1.7bn of payments were made with Visa cards issued in Slovenia in the past financial year, up 32% from the year before.

In the same period the market overall stagnated, said director of the Visa Europe office in Slovenia Alenka Mejač Krassnig. The number of transactions made with Visa payment cards in Slovenia rose 33%.

Cretu believes that the Slovenian market is well-developed and ready for innovative solutions, such as contactless and mobile payments.

"Merchants are more than ready to collaborate with the financial services industry to simplify payment processing for their clients," said Cretu.