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Competition among banks to attract new customers and campaigns to displace cash payments by card payments have become the reasons for the rapid growth in the issuance and use of cards in Europe. The 20% increase in the number of cards in circulation between 2015 and 2021 (to 1.4 billion) was surpassed by the 40% increase in payments during the same period, as consumers often used their cards for everyday purchases.
Central and Eastern Europe accounted for two-thirds of cards issued in the European region between 2015 and 2021, according to a new RBR study “Issuance of Payment Cards and Acquiring in Europe 2021”. In Russia alone, the number of issued cards has doubled to 240 million.
Debit cards account for the largest share of all payment cards in Europe, but the growth was also driven by a significant increase in the number of prepaid products, in particular in Russia and Italy.
According to the RBR report, the desire to cut large volumes of cash payments has encouraged the issuance of contactless cards, although the extent of contactless technology adoption varies greatly between countries.
The UK, where the number of such cards remains the highest in Europe, is projected to provide significant growth in the volume of contactless transactions in 2021. Other countries with high penetration of contactless payments include Poland and Turkey. At the same time, among the countries of both Western Europe and Central-Eastern Europe, there are a number of countries where there are no contactless cards at all, or they are just emerging.
In terms of accepting cards, Western Europe has a more developed infrastructure and has the highest terminal penetration in the region. Central and Eastern European countries have recently shown a rapid increase in the number of terminals installed (it increased by 17% in 2020 compared to 7% in Western Europe), caused by positive changes in the legislation of some countries regarding card payments in order to reduce undeclared income among merchants.
Recall, according to a recent study by Ecommerce Europe, the e-commerce market in Eastern Europe grew by 35.7%.
Central and Eastern Europe accounted for two-thirds of cards issued in the European region between 2015 and 2021, according to a new RBR study “Issuance of Payment Cards and Acquiring in Europe 2021”. In Russia alone, the number of issued cards has doubled to 240 million.
Debit cards account for the largest share of all payment cards in Europe, but the growth was also driven by a significant increase in the number of prepaid products, in particular in Russia and Italy.
According to the RBR report, the desire to cut large volumes of cash payments has encouraged the issuance of contactless cards, although the extent of contactless technology adoption varies greatly between countries.
The UK, where the number of such cards remains the highest in Europe, is projected to provide significant growth in the volume of contactless transactions in 2021. Other countries with high penetration of contactless payments include Poland and Turkey. At the same time, among the countries of both Western Europe and Central-Eastern Europe, there are a number of countries where there are no contactless cards at all, or they are just emerging.
In terms of accepting cards, Western Europe has a more developed infrastructure and has the highest terminal penetration in the region. Central and Eastern European countries have recently shown a rapid increase in the number of terminals installed (it increased by 17% in 2020 compared to 7% in Western Europe), caused by positive changes in the legislation of some countries regarding card payments in order to reduce undeclared income among merchants.
Recall, according to a recent study by Ecommerce Europe, the e-commerce market in Eastern Europe grew by 35.7%.
