During the first six months of 2023, the total number of witnessed an increase of 6.5% compared to the same period in 2022. Moreover, the monetary volumes surged by 13.9%. These figures, derived from data provided by 15 UPC client banks in Ukraine, offer valuable insights into market trends and changes relative to the previous year.

Payments at POS Terminals
Payment transactions conducted at POS terminals continue to dominate as the most popular form of non-cash payments. The average transaction amount per receipt saw 15% rise, reaching 554 UAH annually. While the overall number of purchases increased by 11.6%, cardholders' expenditures experienced a substantial growth of 28.6%. This upward trend can be attributed to the general increase in prices and the expansion of the monetary supply.

Cash Withdrawals
The number of cash withdrawal transactions at ATMs decreased by 26.2%.
However, the overall volume of ATM transactions increased by 6.1% in the past year. Bank’s customers were withdrawing cash less frequently, on average once a month. Nevertheless, the withdrawal amounts saw a significant surge, increasing by 44% (reaching 3,937 UAH per transaction). This change in behavior may be attributed to shifts in customer patterns, including precautionary cash withdrawals during blackout periods.

Online Payments
The number of online payments witnessed a growth of 5.8%, accompanied by an 18.1% increase in transaction volumes. The average transaction amount reached 1,613 UAH, reflecting an 11.6% increase compared to the previous year.

Popular Categories for Online Payments
Cardholders primarily spent their funds on utility services, video games, mobile phone top-ups, groceries, logistics services, and tickets (airline, railway). However, compared to 2022, there was a significant decrease in spending on advertising services (-85%) and at gas stations (-51%).

Card-to-Card Transfers
The P2P transfer service demonstrated the highest growth in the first half of 2023. The number of such transfers increased by 21.5%, while the monetary volumes only grew by 14.5%. The average transaction amount was 2,303 UAH.
This trend has been observed throughout the entire period of full-scale war in Ukraine. Decrease in the average transaction amount is a norm for a payment service as its popularity increases. The situation with volunteering and various fundraising campaigns also had an impact.

Anton Romanchuk, CEO of UPC, stated, "In the first half of 2023, we have noticed a slight increase in cardholders' activity, and transaction volumes have also shown growth influenced by inflation and the expansion of the money supply. Currently, Ukrainians are making more transfers and spending on goods and services compared to a year ago, but they visit ATMs much less frequently."