BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 10. In 2024, payment cards handed out by banks in Azerbaijan have taken the bull by the horns, becoming the go-to means for making cashless payments. Additionally, a growing trend in the use of electronic money issued by electronic money organizations, as well as QR code payments, has been observed.
Data obtained by Trend from the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) indicates that as of January first, 2025, the number of payment cards in circulation reached 19.9 million, with around 80 percent of them supporting contactless payments, excluding virtual cards.
According to the data, the number of payment cards in circulation increased by 17.6 percent compared to 2023, with contactless cards rising by 23.5 percent. Debit cards accounted for 89 percent (17.6 million units) of the total issued payment cards, while credit cards made up 11 percent (2.3 million units). Additionally, the number of virtual cards grew by 22.8 percent, reaching 1.9 million units, and now virtual cards represent 9 percent of all payment cards in circulation.
In 2024, the total transaction volume conducted with payment cards in Azerbaijan rose by 39 percent compared to 2023, reaching 122.9 billion manat ($72.2 billion). Of this, non-cash payments saw a significant increase of 61 percent, amounting to 78.9 billion manat ($46.4 billion).
A large portion of non-cash payments was attributed to e-commerce transactions. In 2024, the number of e-commerce transactions surged by 83 percent compared to 2023, totaling 1,003.4 million transactions, while their total volume grew by 70 percent, reaching 66.5 billion manat ($39.1 billion).
The number of non-cash transactions made through POS terminals in businesses also saw significant growth, increasing by 49.3 percent in 2024 to 621.9 million transactions, with the transaction volume rising by 25.4 percent to 12.3 billion manat ($7.2 billion). Specifically, contactless payments via POS terminals increased by 49.6 percent compared to 2023, totaling 599.8 million transactions, with the transaction volume rising by 29.1 percent to 11.5 billion manat ($6.7 billion).
The report further highlighted that a one percent increase in the number of POS terminals installed in businesses directly contributed to a 3.9 percent increase in the volume of token transactions.