The use of bank cards by Ukrainians has decreased by more than a quarter – National Bank of Ukraine reported

Ukrainians have significantly reduced their use of their bank cards.

This information reported according to the latest report from the National Bank of Ukraine.

The NBU reported that in the second quarter of 2023, the population collectively conducted a substantial volume of card transactions (non-cash payments + cash withdrawals) both in Ukraine and abroad:

• 1.8 billion transactions – the number of transactions in pieces;
• UAH 1.3 trillion – the total amount of transactions.

However, when comparing these data with the results of the first quarter of 2023, a decrease in both indicators is evident compared to January-March:

• The number of card transactions decreased by 13% – from 2.1 billion to 1.8 billion pieces;
• The total volume of card transactions decreased by 27.7% – from UAH 1.8 trillion to UAH 1.3 trillion.

At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the NBU did not publish data for the first and second quarters of 2022, so it is not possible to compare this data with similar indicators from the previous year. However, if we examine the data from the third quarter of 2022, it becomes clear that the higher card performance in the first quarter of 2023 is not anomalous: in the third quarter, the National Bank of Ukraine recorded 2.2 billion card transactions totaling UAH 1.9 trillion – similar to the volumes of the first quarter of 2023.

This also confirms the overall trend of a decline in card payments in the second quarter of 2023.

Bankers attribute these changes to several reasons.

They place the tightening of financial monitoring requirements by banks at the forefront, which has led financial institutions to ask people more questions about the origin of their funds and even block accounts. This has caused the population to become more cautious and use cash more often (instead of cards). Bankers also believe that the overall reduction in household spending has had an impact.