Mastercard: six out of ten contactless payments in Ukraine are digital payments with NFC gadgets

Kyiv, August 5, 2023 - Ukraine continues to make steady progress in active digitization, in payment particularly. The share of payments with smartphones and NFC gadgets among all contactless payments with Mastercard cards in physical retail in the country has crossed the 60% mark. This is evidenced by Mastercard's transaction data for the second quarter of 2023. 

According to Yuriy Batkhin, Vice President for Business Development, Mastercard Ukraine and Moldova, for five years in a row, Ukraine has been among the top ten leading countries globally for the number of NFC payments with Mastercard digital cards.  According to the second quarter results, Ukraine ranked in the top five along with Australia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States.

The rapid development of NFC payments is driven by the growing popularity of digital wallets, allowing turn an NFC gadget such as a smartphone, smartwatch, or fitness bracelet into a convenient payment tool, as well as by the spread of contactless payment technology. Today 95% of all payments with Mastercard cards in physical outlets in Ukraine are contactless. The most popular categories include food retail, food services, clothing and footwear, and petrol stations.

The development of the POS terminals network supporting contactless technology has also become an important foundation for the evolution of the contactless payments culture. According to the NBU[1], today almost 97% of POS terminals in the country accept contactless payments. 

" At some point, the launch of Mastercard contactless payment technology became a turning point to revolutionise payments globally and in Ukraine in particular. Due to its simplicity, convenience and security, contactless payment technology has become an absolute favourite among Ukrainians, and today Ukraine is among the top ten countries in the world by the number of contactless transactions with Mastercard cards,"  Yuriy Batkhin emphasizes.

According to Yuriy Batkhin, an integrated approach to the development of contactless payments in the country and the openness of Ukrainians to innovations have become important prerequisites for the "digital leap" ensuring Ukraine's place among the world's leading countries in the NFC payments adoption. 

[1] https://bank.gov.ua/ua/news/all/voyenniy-rik-bezgotivkovi-operatsiyi--u-prioriteti-v-ukrayintsiv