The bank card market in Moldova witnessed the greatest growth over the past three years. A few years ago, about 90% of bank card holders went to ATMs to withdraw cash. Now more and more citizens pay by card when making purchases in stores. But they have a certain reluctance when it comes to paying for online purchases, said Veaceslav Ionita, economic policy expert of the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives “Viitorul”, IPN reports.

The expert noted that Moldova’s bank card market in 2023 reached 169.4 billion lei, by 25.3 billion lei more than in 2022 and by 59 billion lei more than in 2021. In 2020, the bank card market was 83.8 billion lei. However, the pace of growth was slower in 2023 compared to 2022. In 2023, payments with Moldovan cards inside the country had a turnover of plus 20.2% compared to 2022, while in 2022 of plus 25% compared to 2021.

“Out of the total 169.4 billion lei payments with bank cards in 2023, 135.6 billion lei payments or 80% were made with Moldovan cards, 19.2 billion lei or 11% with foreign cards on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, while 14.6 billion lei or 9% with Moldovan cards abroad,” said the expert.

The economist noted that the online trade market in Moldova reached 44.8 billion lei in 2023. Of this sum, 18 billion lei was online purchases made in the country, but payment was in cash or by card on delivery; 15.9 billion lei was payments made online by Moldovans in the country; 7.8 billion lei – payments made by Moldovans abroad, while 3 billion lei – payments made by foreigners in the Republic of Moldova.

“In 2023, Moldovans made online payments of 23.7 billion lei, up 5.3 billion lei on 2022 and by 10.7 billion lei on 2021. Of the 23.7 billion lei: 12.7 billion lei went to pay for public utilities and taxes; 7.8 billion lei – for goods and services abroad; 3.3 billion lei – for goods and services in the country,” noted the economist.

Online purchases of goods in the country amounted to 24.3 billion lei in 2023, compared to 17.9 billion lei in 2022. Of this amount, 18 billion lei was cash or card payments on delivery, while 6.2 billion lei - online payments.

In 2023, Moldovans made 40 million transactions with bank cards. The value of a transaction was on average 557 lei through internet banking and 508 lei through e-commerce, as opposed to 461 lei and 500 lei, respectively, in 2022.