RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Payments made with credit and debit cards for retail purchases in Brazil grew 212 percent between 2002 and 2007, the country's Central Bank said Monday.

    Credit card payments grew 322 percent while payments with debit cards grew 180 percent in the five-year period, the bank said.

    Check payments decreased 35 percent during the same time, an indication that such a mode of payment has become outdated, and is preferred only for high-value transactions.

    The number of cards per capita also increased. By the end of 2007, there was an average of 0.6 credit card and one debit card for every Brazilian.

    According to the Central Bank, the number of credit cards per checking account has been growing since 2003, and reached 1.1 cards per account in 2007.