Value of non-cash payments executed in Latvia grew notably during the first half of 2023

394.2 million customer non-cash payments totalling 150.7 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 2023. This averages 2.2 million payments worth 832.8 million euro a day.

The total volume and value of non-cash payments made by customers increased by 10% and 26% respectively in comparison with the first half of 2022.

The most popular non-cash payments were card payments and customer credit transfers, constituting 61.2% and 36.4% of the total volume of non-cash payments respectively.

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 2023 (1.2 cards per capita on average), and most of them were cards with a debit function.

47.5 thousand points of sale (POSs) were available to the public. Furthermore, for several years now, the number of cash withdrawal points has remained virtually constant with 897 ATMs operating in Latvia during the first half of 2023. Latvijas Banka, Finance Latvia Association and the banks with the widest network of ATMs and branches – Swedbank AS, AS SEB banka, Latvian branch of Luminor Bank AS and AS Citadele banka – have agreed to continue implementing the measures ensuring access to cash for residents of Latvia in 2023. These measures have been included in the Memorandum of Cooperation signed in autumn 2021.

At the end of the first half of 2023, the number of customer payment accounts opened by Latvian payment service providers totalled 3.0 million or 1.6 payment accounts per capita on average.

24.2 million instant payments totalling 6.9 billion euro were executed in the first half of 2023.

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 (https://www.bank.lv/en/statistics/stat-data/payment-statistics).