BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, February 25. The number of Visa cards in circulation in Kyrgyzstan reached 5.373 million, which accounts for 58.5 percent of the total number of payment cards as of December 31, 2024, Trend reports.
According to the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan, the figure increased by 65 percent compared to December 31, 2023, when the number of Visa cards was 3.249 million, or 47.2 percent of the total.
The distribution of Visa cards across regions in Kyrgyzstan reveals that the capital city, Bishkek, holds the largest share of cards, with a total of 3.896 million. On the other hand, the Naryn region accounted for the least number of cards with 61,394 cards.
Simultaneously, the aggregate volume of payment instruments
operational within the Kyrgyz financial ecosystem hit 9.184 million
as of the terminal date of December 31, 2024, reflecting a
substantial 33.3 percent escalation compared to the corresponding
temporal marker in 2023.
Payment card issuance and acquisition services were facilitated by
21 commercial banking institutions within the national payment
ecosystem of Elcard, while 17 banks engaged with international
payment frameworks.
Regarding the categorization of card types, the national
infrastructure known as Elcard constituted 3.651 million cards,
representing 39.8 percent of the aggregate total. Global payment
infrastructures accounted for 5.533 million cards, representing
60.2 percent of the aggregate total.
