Cashless payments in Ukraine remain at a high level and continue to grow. This is evidenced by statistics on the use of payment cards issued by Ukrainian banks during the third quarter of 2023. The number of transactions (both cashless and cash withdrawals) using payment cards in Ukraine and abroad in Q3 2023 amounted to 1.972 billion transactions, with a total sum of 1.407 trillion UAH. Of these, 1.844 billion transactions, totaling 890.8 billion UAH, were cashless. The share of cashless transactions in Q3 2023, by amount, was 63.3% of the total value of card transactions, and by number, it reached 93.5% (compared to 62.1% and 92.8% respectively in Q2 2023). This indicates that Ukrainians continue to prefer cashless card transactions. An analysis of the distribution of cashless transactions by type reveals that in Q3 this year, the largest number of transactions, both in quantity and value, occurred in retail (73.6% and 47.0%, respectively), with 1.358 billion transactions totaling 419.2 billion UAH. Card-to-card transfers accounted for a third by value (31.3%) and nearly a tenth by quantity (8.1%) of all cashless transactions. Online purchases accounted for 14.5% by value and 13.9% by quantity.
In the reporting period, the average transaction amounts were as follows:
- Retail payments – 309 UAH (310 UAH in Q2 2023)
- Card-to-card transfers – 1,854 UAH (1,829 UAH)
- Online payments – 504 UAH (495 UAH)
Payment Infrastructure and Card Numbers Increased Since the Start of the Year The number of active POS terminals in retail and service networks increased by 17.1% in September compared to January (to 419,500), and the number of points of sale and service providers accepting payment cards rose by 35% (to 428,300). The ATM network is gradually recovering, with the number of ATMs increasing by 1.3% (to 15,800). As of September 2023, the total number of issued payment cards in Ukraine reached 112.4 million, marking a 3% increase compared to January. The number of cards used for monthly expenditure transactions grew by 9% (from 45.9 million in January to 50 million in September).
The total number of contactless payment cards continues to rise. By the end of September, their number had increased by 12% compared to January. More than half (58%) of active payment cards in September were contactless. Tokenized payment cards are also gaining popularity, with their number rising by 32% since the beginning of the year (to 11.3 million). They account for 23% of all active payment cards (up from 19% in January 2023). Thus, nearly one in four active payment cards is tokenized. As a result, less than one-tenth of transactions (9.1% by value and 8.0% by quantity) in Q3 this year were conducted in retail and service networks with physical card data reading. In Q2 2023, the share of such transactions was 10.6% and 9.4%, respectively. The remaining transactions were contactless (using contactless cards or smartphones and other devices). The total value of these transactions in Q3 2023 was 381.1 billion UAH (up from 344.5 billion UAH in Q2).
