395.0 million customer non-cash payments totalling 491.8 billion euro were executed by Latvian payment service providers (credit institutions, electronic money institutions, payment institutions, credit unions, Latvijas Banka and the Treasury) in the first half of 2024.
This averages 2.2 million payments worth 2.7 billion euro a day.
The total volume and value of non-cash payments made by customers in the first half of 2024 increased by 6% and 226% respectively in comparison with the first half of 2023.
The volume increase was driven by a rise in the number of card payments, but the surge in value was primarily fuelled by a specific type of customer credit transfers – intrabank transfers. These transfers also encompass a service that banks resumed offering after a longer break, i.e "overnight deposits" for legal persons. These deposits enable funds from current accounts to be transferred into a deposit account overnight, accruing interest. The following day, the money returns to the current account, ready to be used for daily transactions.
Meanwhile, the volume and value of credit transfers, excluding intrabank payments, reached 48.0 million transactions, totalling 64.0 billion euro, reflecting growth of 3% in the volume of transactions and 31% in their value.
As in previous years, the most popular non-cash payments were card payments and customer credit transfers, constituting 65.5% and 31.5% of the total volume of non-cash payments respectively. The use of e-money also saw significant growth, accounting for 3% of the total transaction volume.
To ensure card payments, 2.2 million payment cards were issued by Latvian payment service providers as at the end of the first half of 2024 (1.2 cards per capita on average).
Residents had access to 51.8 thousand point-of-sale (POS) terminals, 875 ATMs in Latvia, as well as 6.6 thousand POS terminals and 7 ATMs operated by Latvian payment service providers abroad. At the end of the first half of 2024, the number of customer payment accounts opened by Latvian payment service providers totalled 3.1 million or 1.6 payment accounts per capita on average.
A detailed report on the operation of interbank payment systems, development of payment instruments and other areas vital for non-cash payments is available on Latvijas Banka's website.