Ukraine 2026
Market Overview Payment Organisation PROSTIR (Ukrainian Payments Area), formerly NSMEP. Ukrainian Interbank Payment Systems Member Association “EMA” Domestic Card Brand PROSTIR cards (replacing NSMEP cards). UkrKart, cards, some are co-badged, Maestro. Market Structure PROSTIR, the new domestic contactless card scheme, has won increased support from the Ukrainian payments industry. The first Mastercard and VISA programmes […]
Uzbekistan 2026
Market Overview Payment Organisation National Interbank Payment System (UZKART). Domestic Card Brand UzCard cards. Market Structure Historically, more than 80% of cards issued were domestic-only UzCard cards using Duet smart card technology. Since 2015, UzCard cards have been issued as EMV cards branded with the new UzCard logo. From 2018, UzCards are co-badged with UnionPay. […]
Belgium 2026
Market Overview Payment Organisations Bancontact Payconiq Company. Domestic Payment Brands Bancontact debit cards, mostly co-badged Maestro. Bancontact Payconiq, the Belgian mobile payment app. Market Structure In March 2018, the domestic card scheme Bancontact merged with the mobile payment app operator, Payconiq. From 2011, most Belgian banks restrict the use of the Maestro function on Bancontact […]
Austria 2026
Market Overview Payment Organisations Payment Services Austria (PSA) STUZZA develops methods and standards for payment services. In 2021, PSA, STUZZA and Austrian OeNB‘s Clearinghouse merged to build the new shared-services-platform and interbank organisation for cashless bank payment services. Domestic Payment Brands No domestic card brands. eps, the domestic A2A payment service for online shopping. Market […]
Bulgaria 2026
Market Overview Payment Organisation BORICA is the Bulgarian interbank organisation and card authorisation centre. Domestic Card Brands BORICA was the domestic debit card; many cards are co-badged Maestro. BORICA cards have been replaced by Bcard cards. Bcard is the new domestic card brand launched in 2017. Bcard cards are typically debit cards, credit cards or […]
Croatia 2026
Market Overview Payment Organization EGCP, formerly the Croatian interbank processor MBU, is the shared group card processor of Erste Group (A). Domestic Payment Brands MBCARD debit cards. Market Structure Croatia was a showcase market for American Express through its agreement with PBZ, which had issued over 500,000 American Express cards until 2019. Erste Bank acquired […]
Cyprus 2026
Market Overview Payment Organisation JCC Payment Systems; JCC is owned by five major banks. Domestic Payment Brands No domestic payment brands. Market Structure JCC is the central body in the Cypriot card business market, managing the domestic POS/ATM networks and most acquirer transactions. The credit card sector has been relatively mature for some years, but […]
Czechia 2026
Market Overview Payment Organisation SBK Czech Bank Card Association (SBK/BCA). Domestic Payment Brands No domestic payment brands. Market Structure Continued growth of card use. By end-2024, there were 15.86 million cards with 273.5 card payments per capita. Cards issued are credit cards, debit cards, and prepaid cards. 92.12% of cards are debit cards that are […]
Estonia 2026
Market Overview Payment Organisation None (Pankade Kaardikeskus (PKK) became NETS Estonia). Domestic Payment Brands No domestic payment brands. Market Structure Estonia is the most developed digital market in the Baltic region. Mastercard cards replaced most of the VISA cards. There were 1.54 cards per capita in 2024 and 353.5 card payments per capita, of which […]
Finland 2026
Market Overview Payment Organisations Automatia (ATM network); Finnish Bankers Association. Finance Finland (FFI). Domestic Payment Brand No domestic card brand. Market Structure Sophisticated market with a high level of card use. However, numbers of ATMs and cash withdrawals continued to decline. Cards with combined debit/credit functions for domestic and international use respectively. As at end-2024, […]