This was stated by Veaceslav Ionita, economic policy expert at IDIS “Viitorul”. He noted that the card payments market in Moldova is experiencing the most rapid growth in its history.
In his weekly program, he noted that non-cash payments are becoming the main driver of market modernization, gradually replacing traditional cash withdrawal operations.
According to him, for the first time in the third quarter of 2024 the volume of card payments exceeded 50 billion lei, and in the same quarter of this year they already amounted to more than 61 billion lei.
According to the economist, during the first nine months of this year, Moldovan citizens made payments with Moldovan cards worth 98.3 billion lei, of which 75.7 billion lei – payments inside the country, and 22.6 billion lei – payments abroad.
Over the last five years, the volume of card payments increased by 25%, which is due to a significant change in consumer behavior. Cards are no longer used only for cash withdrawals, but are a full-fledged payment instrument, both at home and abroad.
Ionita emphasizes that the market is currently dominated by Moldovan cards used domestically, which account for 79% of the payment volume, or 177.5 billion lei. Moldovan cards used abroad account for 10%, or 23.4 billion lei, while foreign cards used in Moldova account for 11%, or 23.9 billion lei. Thus, the card market grows monthly by about 2.2 billion lei, of which 1.7 billion lei are card payments and 500 million lei are cash withdrawals.
The economic analyst notes that while in 2015 Moldovans withdrew 90% of their money from cards, the situation changed in the third quarter of this year, with 57% accounted for by cash withdrawals and 43% by card payments. He believes that in 2027 card payments will exceed cash withdrawals: 53% vs. 47%.
Veaceslav Ionita also said that in the first nine months of this year, Moldovans spent 11.3 billion lei abroad, of which 10.4 billion lei – card payments and 0.9 billion lei – cash withdrawals. At the same time, foreigners in Moldova withdraw cash in significant volumes. In the first nine months of the year, the volume of transactions with foreign cards amounted to 20.1 billion lei, of which 11.7 billion lei – payments and 8.4 billion lei – cash withdrawals.
The expert notes that part of these transactions are payments of Moldovan citizens with cards opened abroad, transferred to relatives in the country, a kind of “invisible” money transfers, the volume of which is estimated at 3-4 billion lei per year. Another 3-4 billion lei are expenses of Moldovans temporarily returning home.
In the first nine months of this year, Moldovans spent 20.6 billion lei on online banking, 12.2 billion lei on online shopping abroad and 3.8 billion lei on domestic online shopping. “If purchases abroad were subject to VAT, the state budget would receive an additional 2.5 billion lei. Currently, online trade abroad, which accounts for 85% of the total volume, does not generate tax revenues,” the expert said.
