Results of 9 months of 2019 on expansion of digital payments in the country

25-10-2019

25 October 2019, Baku: The Central Bank continues various actions jointly with public institutions on boost of infrastructure capacity and introduction of new payment technologies to expand digital payments, raise financial literacy of the population and shape cashless payment habits as part of the ‘State Program on expansion of digital payments in the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2018-2020’ approved by Decree# 508 of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated 26 September 2018.

As a result of the works done cashless payment indicators followed positive dynamics compared to previous periods over 9 months of 2019 – the size of payment operations via the National Payment Infrastructure made up AZN191 B (40 mln. pcs). The indicator on the number of operations y/y increased by 44%.

The coverage area of the Government Payment Portal (GPP) expanded; the portal now allows to make payments on 1437 municipalities. Hence, payments for over 550 services of major public institutions, utilities, mobile operators, higher education institutions and others, including municipalities can be made in a cashless order using online resources of the portal, banks’ e-banking services. The size of operations over the GPP made up AZN2 B 286M (y/y up by 6%). The size of cashless operations increased by 3.4 times to AZN956 M.

As of 30.09.2019 the number of payment cards y/y increased by 16% to 7.5 mln pcs, out of which 1.2 mln were contactless cards. The number of contactless cards increased by 2,4 times.

ATMs across the country are numbering 2654 pcs (y/y up by 114 pcs) – 1407 are located in Baku, while 1247 in other cities and regions. Banks installed 65153 POS-terminals throughout the country, out of which 27530 are contactless POS-terminals (y/y up by 31% (6466 pcs)).

The size of payment card operations made up AZN15 B 535 M (y/y up by 28%). The share of cashless settlements increased by 59% to AZN3.3 B (21%).

Analyses once again suggest that efforts to develop digital payment infrastructure in the country and instill cashless payment habits are yielding positive results.