The Ukrainian economy continues to rapidly digitize. Statistics for the first quarter of 2026, published by the National Bank of Ukraine, demonstrate a massive shift in consumer habits: cash is becoming a thing of the past, giving way to contactless technologies and online payments.
Record indicators for non-cash settlements
According to the regulator, Ukrainians performed more than 2.2 billion non-cash transactions using payment cards. The total value of these transactions reached an impressive 1.23 trillion hryvnias. This is 14.8% higher than in the same period last year. If we consider all card operations (including cash withdrawals), their number totaled 2.3 billion, amounting to 1.83 trillion hryvnias.
The share of non-cash operations continues to grow. If in 2025 they accounted for 95.2% of the total number, now this figure has reached 96%. The share of non-cash settlements by value has also increased — from 65.2% to 67.3%.
Where and how Ukrainians pay
The main volume of transactions falls on trade and services. Such operations accounted for 74.3% of all non-cash payments by quantity and 52.3% by value. In total, more than 1.64 billion transactions worth 644.1 billion hryvnias were conducted in shops and service establishments.
An interesting dynamic is shown by the "card-to-card" transfer segment. They continue to lose their share in the structure of operations: in the first quarter of 2026, they accounted for 25.3% of the total value of non-cash operations, compared to 28.1% a year earlier.
At the same time, e-commerce is gaining momentum. Payment for goods and services on the internet accounted for 16.9% of all non-cash payments by value and 14.5% by quantity.
Growth in average check and infrastructure
Along with the growing popularity of cards, average checks are also increasing. The average purchase amount in the retail network grew from 344 to 393 hryvnias. The average transfer between cards reached 1,968 hryvnias, and the average online payment — 654 hryvnias.
The infrastructure for accepting payments is also expanding. The number of POS terminals in the retail and service network has grown by almost 1% since the beginning of the year, reaching 563.4 thousand devices. At the same time, the number of points accepting payment cards increased by 6.6% — to 654.5 thousand. The ATM network remained stable and counts 15.7 thousand devices.
Contactless technology boom
One of the main trends has been the mass implementation of contactless technologies. As of the end of March, 151.7 million payment cards were issued in Ukraine. More than 57% of active cards are contactless.
Tokenized cards linked to smartphones and other gadgets are particularly popular. Their number is 20.6 million, making every third active card in Ukraine tokenized. As a result, the share of operations with physical card reading (inserting into a terminal) has decreased to a minimum: in the first quarter of 2026, they accounted for only 0.9% of all operations by quantity and 1.5% by value.
Contactless payments with cards and gadgets brought 634.4 billion hryvnias into the cash registers, which is almost 127 billion hryvnias more than in the same period last year.