Overcoming the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the main metrics measuring cashless payments continued their upward trend in 2021. Data from the National Bank of Moldova show that last year the Automated Interbank Payment System (SAPI) processed 13.8 million transactions. The availability of the system was 99.9%, with no major disruptions recorded.

A report published today by the NBM reveals that the payment card metrics maintained their upward trend as well. Last year, the number of cards in circulation increased by almost 8% compared to the previous year. At the end of 2021, the number of cards in circulation was 2.35 million units. Proximity cards constituted 98.7% of the total number of cards issued in 2021 and 92.7% of the total share of cards in circulation.

The indicator reflecting the number of cashless payments per capita is constantly increasing, rising by 44.6% compared to the previous year. Whereas in 2015 there were three non-cash payments per year for every Moldovan, in 2021 the annual average rose to 39 non-cash payments.

According to BNM, Automated Remote Service (SADD) systems are becoming increasingly popular among users. During 2021, there was a 24.4% increase in the number of SADD holders compared to the previous year, in particular, due to the increase in the number of users of mobile-payments systems.

With the surge in online purchases during the pandemic, the number of e-commerce platforms increased by about 11%, to 584 platforms at the end of 2021.

Last year, the frauds perpetrated with the use of payment cards last year totaled 13.6 million lei, with 40.7% of the total representing fraud carried out remotely, that is, by using the card number.