Estonia 2025
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 1.47 cards per capita in 2023 and 335.6 card payments per capita, of which […]
Denmark 2025
Market Overview Payment Organisation BOKIS, interbank organisation of the small Danish banks. MobilePay Denmark, operator of the mobile payment service, MobilePay. Domestic Payment Brands Dankort debit cards; co-badged VISA for international use. MobilePay is the mobile A2A payment service in Denmark. Market Structure Card use, already among the highest in Europe, hit 440.0 card payments […]
Cyprus 2025
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 […]
Croatia 2025
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 […]
Bulgaria 2025
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 BORICA cards have been replaced by Bcard cards.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 […]
Austria 2025
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 […]
Belgium 2025
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 […]
European Payments Report Overview Part 6 – Overview of European Banking 2026
6. Overview of European Banking Banking sectors in western Europe and the formerly state-owned banks in central and eastern Europe have completely different historic roots. In addition, their transformation into the European Economic Area (EEA) has followed separate strategies. Thus, this part of the European overview section continues to highlight European banks in two different […]
European Payments Report Overview Part 5 – Card Acquiring and Acceptance 2026
5. Card Acquiring and Acceptance The card acquiring business remains a core part of the card payments ecosystem described elsewhere in the European Overview Section. Card acquirers must comply with the rules of domestic and international card schemes, as well as with the relevant regulatory, operational and security standards that govern card acceptance across Europe, […]
European Payments Report Overview Part 4 – Card Payments Overview – Market Size and Dynamics 2026
4. Card Payments Overview– Market Size and Dynamics The legal frameworks for card payment services and the payment infrastructure in Europe are highlighted in the introducing part ‘About Payments in Europe’ (see above). The card issuing business is part of the card payment ecosystem, which is highlighted in another part of the Yearbook: ‘Card Payment […]