BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, February 25. The total number of Mastercard cards in circulation in Kyrgyzstan reached 69,825, accounting for 0.8 percent of the total cards in circulation, as of December 31, 2024.
The data obtained by Trend from the country's National Bank shows that the figure increased by 26.2 percent from December 31, 2023, when the number stood at 55,322 cards, with a 0.8 percent share of the total.
Bishkek leads in the number of cards - 45,618, while Naryn oblast has the least number of Mastercard cards in circulation - only 1,379.
The total number of payment cards in circulation in Kyrgyzstan reached 9,184 million as of December 31, 2024, which is a 33.3 percent rise over the same date in 2023. Services for issuing and acquiring payment cards were provided by 21 commercial banks for the national payment system Elcard and by 17 banks for international payment systems.
In terms of card types, the national system Elcard accounted for 3.6 million cards or 39.8 percent of the total. International payment systems contributed 5.5 million cards or 60.2 percent of the total.
Visa issued the majority of them, accounting for 5.3 million cards, or 58.5 percent of the total. The Russian Zolotaya Korona system issued 87,291 cards (1 percent), and Union Pay International issued only 3,053 cards (0.03 percent).
