Cashless card payments remain the most popular for Ukrainian households. This is according to data for the first nine months of 2024 on use of payment cards issued by Ukrainian banks.
Specifically, the total number of transactions (cashless payments and cash withdrawals) in Ukraine and abroad by means of payment cards issued by Ukrainian banks was 6,392.5 million, worth a total of UAH 4,791.3 billion in the first nine months of 2024.
Whereof cashless transactions numbered 6,039.8 million, worth UAH 3,105.4 billion.
Over 94% of card transactions are cashless
The share of cashless transactions in the first nine months 2024 was 64.8% of all payment card transactions by value, and 94.5% by number (down from 65.4% and up from 93.5% in the first nine months of 2023, respectively).
Analysis of cashless transactions broken down by type shows that in the first nine months of this year, point-of-sale (POS) transactions accounted for the majority of card transactions by number and by value (73.6% and 46.2%, respectively). Thus, 4,443.8 million transactions worth UAH 1,432.7 billion were made.
In the first nine months of 2024, card-to-card transfers made up one-third by value (31.8%) and almost one-tenth by number (8.3%). Online payments for goods and services accounted for 14.4% by value and 13.4% by number.
In the reporting period, the average amount of one transaction was:
- in retail and service chains — UAH 322 (up from UAH 319 in the first nine months of 2023)
- card-to-card transfers — UAH 1,976 (down from UAH 1,986)
- online payment for goods and services — UAH 553 (up from UAH 479).
Expanding payment card numbers and payment infrastructure
In September, the number of active POS-terminals in retail and service chains increased by 8.6% in contrast to January (to 487,400 units), and the number of retail and service stores accepting payment cards rose by 10.9% (to 512,100 units).
The ATM network decreased by almost 1% to 15,800 ATMs.
The total number of payment cards issued in Ukraine stood at 122.1 million in the first nine months of 2024. This is a 6% increase from January 2023.
The number of payment cards used for monthly debit transactions increased at the same rate. The number of active cards increased by 5% from 51.6 million in January to 54.1 million in September.
Ukrainians opt for contactless payments
The number of contactless payment cards also continues to rise. In September, the number of contactless payment cards rose by 9% compared to January. Overall, in September, more than half (61.4%) of active payment cards were contactless.
Tokenized payment cards are also popular among Ukrainians. Their number increased since the beginning of the year by 19% (to 14.9 million). In the total number of active cards, tokenized cards make up about 28% (up from 24% in January 2024). Thus, approximately one in every four active payment cards is tokenized.
As a result, the share of contactless transactions (with contactless cards or using smartphones and other devices) continues to increase.
In the first nine months of 2024, contactless transactions reached 94.2% by value and 95.3% by number (in the first nine months of the previous year, the share of such transactions was 89.4% and 90.6%, respectively). Contactless transactions numbered 4,234.3 million, worth UAH 1,349.1 billion (relative to 3,281.4 million transactions worth UAH 1,032.9 billion in the first nine months of 2023).