31 July 2019, Baku: The Central Bank continues actions on implementation 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.

The size of payment operations conducted through interbank payment systems was AZN131.3 B, (25 mln 378 thousand transactions) (y/y up by 5.1% and 41.3% respectively) in the first half of 2019.

The size of operations conducted over the Government Payment Portal (GPP) in the first half of the current year made up AZN 1 B 412 M (y/y up by 34%). Cashless payments account for AZN551 M of the said operations (y/y up by 3,4 times).

As of 30.06.2019, the number of payment cards y/y increased by 14.7% to over 7 million pieces; of which 998 thousand pieces are contactless cards. The number of contactless cards y/y increased by 2.4 times, while the number of contactless transactions increased by 4.6 times.

The size of payment card operations made up AZN9 B 532 M (y/y up by 24%). Cashless settlements account for 20% of payment card operations (y/y 16%).

As of 30.06.2019, ATMs across the Republic of Azerbaijan are numbering 2571 pcs (y/y up by 90 pcs). 1373 of ATMs are located in Baku, while 1198 in other cities and regions. Banks installed 63396 POS-terminals throughout the country, out of which 25747 are contactless POS-terminals (y/y up by 26% (5305 pcs)).

Analyses once again suggest that efforts to develop digital payment infrastructure in the country and instill cashless payment habits are yielding positive results. The Bank will further continue works to attain the targets set in the ‘State Program on expansion of digital payments in the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2018-2020’.