In the first three quarters of 2013, the number of transactions involving the use of payment cards issued by Ukrainian banks totaled 969 million, whereas the value of these transactions rose by 23.3%, compared with the respective period of 2012, amounting to UAH 650 billion.
The value of payment card transactions climbed by 75.3%, having reached UAH 108 billion, while cash withdrawal transactions increased by 16.4%, amounting to UAH 541 billion (83.3% of the total amount of payment card transactions).
The cashless transactions accounted for 16.7% of the total amount of transactions over this period, while in 2012 and 2011 this figure stood at 12% and 8.1% respectively.
Ms Inna Tiutiun, Deputy Director of General Department of Information Technologies and Payment Systems, said: “The public is gradually getting accustomed to using payment instruments when making payments for goods, works and services, which helps channel additional funds into the Ukrainian economy, makes payment transactions more transparent and secure, and contributes to reducing the cash handling costs”.
The number of cash withdrawal transactions edged up by 3.0%, totaling 550 million transactions (56.8% of the total number of payment card transactions), whereas cashless payments climbed by 76.4%, amounting to 418 million transactions (43.2% of the total number of payment card transactions).
Overall, according to statistical data covering the first three quarters of the current year, the number of payment cards totaled 68 million pieces, including almost 34 million pieces of active payment cards that have been used at least once in the period of three months (75.2% debit cards and 24,8% credit card).
Payment Card Market Statistics clearly demonstrate the efficiency of National Bank of Ukraine's policy aimed at promoting cashless retail payments in Ukraine with application of card and other payment technologies,” noted Ms Inna Tiutiun.
As of 1 October 2013, 143 banks were members of card payment systems.
In the first three quarters of 2013, there was an increase in the number of automated teller machines and point-of-sale (POS) terminals. So far, banks have installed almost 39 thousand automated teller machines and approximately 195 thousand point-of-sale (POS) terminals (as of 1 January 2013, banks installed over 36 thousand automated teller machines and almost 163 thousand POS terminals).
As of 1 October 2013, the largest number of payment cards and extensive infrastructure (payment card-accepting devices) were concentrated in Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Donetsk Oblast, and Odesa Oblast.