The National Bank of Ukraine notes an upward trend in cashless payments in Ukraine and projects the share of cashless payments to further increase in the period ahead.
In 2016, the share of domestic cashless payments using payment cards exceeded 35%, compared to 8% in 2011.
In 2016, the payment cards market performance indicators suggest a substantial increase in the volumes and values of cashless payments in Ukraine.
In 2016, the total number of transactions involving the use of payment cards issued by domestic banks surged by 28% and amounted to 2, 513 million, while the volumes of transactions increased by 30.6 %, reaching about UAH 1,610 billion.
Retail cashless payments continued to gain in popularity among Ukrainians.
In 2016, the share of cashless payments involving the use of payment cards rose by 4.3% within total transactions, amounting to UAH 571.3 billion (35.5 % of the total amount payment card transactions).
In terms of the number of transactions, the share of cashless payments increased by 5.1%, reaching 1,775 million of transactions (accounting for 70.6% of the total amount of payment card transactions).
As of 1 January 2017, the increase was recorded in:
- active payment cards – by 1.55 million pieces (5%), reaching 32.4 million pieces;
- contactless payment cards – by 0.54 million pieces (37.4%), amounting to 1.99 million pieces; and
- e-payment cards recorded a six-fold increase, amounting to 54,000 pieces.
The year 2016 saw and in increase in the number of payment cards and an expansion in the payment infrastructure.
The data released by the NBU point to the increase in the number of trade and service enterprises that provide their clients with opportunities to make cashless payments. In 2016, their number rose by 11% (by 14,674 units) and stood at 145,938 units.
In 2016, the payment instrument infrastructure also expanded. As of 1 January 2017, there were almost 33,800 ATMs and 219.200 terminals (of 1 January 2016 - 33.300 ATMs and 194.500 POS terminals).
As of 1 January 2017, Privatbank PJSC, Oschadbank JSC and Raiffeisen Bank Aval JSC took the lead among the banks by the number of payment cards issued and the extension of the network of card service infrastructure.
By regions, Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv oblasts registered the largest increase in the number of payment cards, ATMs and POS terminals.
As a side note, the NBU is currently implementing a project on Cashless economy, which was identified as one of the strategic areas of the Ukrainian Financial Sector Development.
Under the Comprehensive Program of Ukrainian Financial Sector Development Until 2020, the M0-to-GDP ratio (the level of cash in the economy) should be reduced to 9.5% by 2020, while the network of payment terminals should expand up to 11,000 units per 1 million people (currently – 500 units).
As of 1 January 2017, 87 banks, being card payment system members, operated in Ukraine.