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Slovakia Cards & Payments Market Report
- Published Date: August 2020
SLOVAKIA CARDS & PAYMENT REPORT
A comprehensive overview of Slovakia's cards, payments and consumer banking market, with clearsighted commentary backed by relevant data.
The launch of a real-time payments system is set for early 2022, a timely development given that mobile payments are growing rapidly (accelerated by near-universal contactless acceptance) and e-wallets are ensconced as the fastest-growing e-commerce payment method.
Purchase volume is set to increase during 2020, fuelled by debit card purchases as the number of credit cards has been declining, with issuers needing to persuade consumers more energetically and not let a government levy on liabilities dim their enthusiasm for lending.
What you will learn from this Slovakia card payments report:
How mobile payments are ripe for development.
Why credit cards are relatively underdeveloped.
What Slovak issuers need to do to challenge overdrafts.
Why bank creativity is key to profitability.
How e-commerce has performed in Slovakia.
SLOVAKIA COUNTRY REPORT | KEY FACTS
- From a 2018 peak, economic growth in this market slowed to 2.4 percent in 2019 and, due to the pandemic, is now expected to shrink by nine percent in 2020.
- Cash continues to be the dominant payment mode. However, the use of payment cards has grown significantly since the country joined the eurozone in 2009.
- Debit card usage has grown, at least in part, because of the financial inclusion initiatives taken by the authorities, including the introduction of a law making it easier for those on low incomes to open a basic bank account.
- Card purchase transactions grew at an average rate of 19 percent from 2014 to 2019. Growth is expected to continue out to 2023 but at a more moderate rate.
- Contactless cards have reached saturation point, with Slovakia enjoying one of the highest penetration levels in Europe.
- At the end of 2019, almost all cards and POS terminals in the country were contactless-enabled.
- Credit cards face strong competition from overdrafts, the most popular form of short-term borrowing in the country.
- Mastercard leads Visa as the principal credit card network, while the situation is reversed when it comes to debit cards.
- VUB Banka is the leading institution in credit cards in issue and outstandings, followed by Tatra Banka.
Slovakia Payments Research | Report Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Demographics and the economy
Payments environment
Slovakian cards market
Mobile payments
Profit pool
The networks
Key retail banks and issuers
Acquiring and processing
Online acquiring
Regulatory and other cards market information
Appendices: Data
Appendix I: Demographics and the economy
Demographic and economic indicators
Ownership of key consumer devices
Internet usage by population
Appendix II: Payments environment
Access points
Account penetration
Consumer payment trends
B2C e-commerce payment methods
Appendix III: Cards market
Total cards payment metrics
Contactless cards metrics
Credit card numbers
Total credit cards metrics
Credit cards profitability indicators
Debit cards numbers
Debit cards metrics
Appendix IV: Mobile payments
Mobile proximity payment metrics
Appendix V: Profit pool
Slovakian profit pool
Appendix VI: The card networks
Networks' credit card market shares
Networks' credit card numbers
Networks' credit card billed volume
Networks' number of credit card transactions
Networks' average credit card transaction value
Credit card interchange fees by network
Networks' debit card market shares
Networks' debit card numbers
Networks' debit card billed volume
Networks' number of debit card transactions
Networks' average debit card transaction value
Debit card interchange fees by network
Appendix VII: Key retail banks and issuers
Key credit card issuers market shares by credit card numbers
Key issuers market shares in credit card outstandings
Key debit card issuers market shares by debit card numbers
Appendix VIII: Acquiring and processing
Merchant acquirer credit card market share
Credit card merchant service charges
Merchant acquirer debit card market share
Debit card merchant service charges
Credit card issuer/issuing processor relationships
Credit card acquirer/acquiring processor relationships
Credit card issuing processor market shares by card numbers
Credit card acquiring processor market shares by the number of POS transactions
Appendix IX: Online acquiring
Online merchant acquirer market share
Slovakia Country Report | Selected Extracts
Demographics and Economy
The Slovak economy reached somewhat of a peak in 2018 and has begun to slow down somewhat since. Growth fell to 2.4% in 2019 on foot of shifts in the automotive sector and the impact of weakening demand for electronic and automotive products.
Payments Environment
The use of payment cards is growing significantly, driven by overseas spending using Slovakia-issued cards and improved acceptance facilities at merchants serving consumers from other euro-denominated countries.
Cards Market
Cash continues to be the dominant payment mode in Slovakia. However, since the country joined the eurozone in 2009, cash usage has declined, while use of payment cards has grown significantly.
Mobile Payments
With over seven million mobile phone subscribers in the country and the number of mobile cellular subscriptions standing at 133.4 per 100 inhabitants in 2019, Slovakia is a relatively small, though attractive, market for mobile payments.
Profit Pool
Profit per card reached an estimated $28 in 2019, its highest since 2014; Verisk Financial Research forecasts an increase to $37 in 2023, fuelled by an increase in billed volume and improved operating cost-to-revenue ratio among financial institutions.
Card Networks
The number of credit cards in issue has been decreasing since 2016, with just under 595,000 credit cards in issue in Slovakia at the end of 2019: this is a small credit cards market. As with credit cards, debit cards are dominated by Visa and Mastercard, with no national scheme in operation in Slovakia.
Key Retail Banks and Issuers
There were 27 retail banks offering banking services in Slovakia at the end of 2019. The country's three largest banks (Slovenska Sporitelna, VUB and Tatra Banka) collectively accounted for over half of the total banking assets at the end of that year.
Acquiring and Processing
Although most issuing banks in Slovakia offer acquiring services, merchant acquiring was traditionally dominated by the country's three largest banks: Tatra Banka, VUB and Slovenska Sporitel'na (SLSP).
Online Acquiring
The popularity of e-commerce in Slovakia has been growing in recent years. At the end of 2019, there were around 3,600 online merchants in the country.
Regulatory and Markets Information
The country's central bank, NBS (National Bank of Slovakia), supervises the financial sector, including the capital market, banking, insurance and pensions.
Slovakia Payments report | Entities Referenced
365.bank
American Express
Apple Pay
Austrian Airlines
Authorisation and Clearing Centre of Slovakia
Avis
Bank Card Association
Besteron
Bunq
Česka Spoitelna
Cetelem
CSOB
Diners Club
ECB
Emoney
Erste
European Central Bank
EuroProcessing International
Eventim
First Data
First Data Slovakia
Global Payments
Global Payments, s.r.o.
Google Pay
GoPay
Home Credit
Intesa Sanpaolo
J&T Banka
Kalixa Pay
KBC Bank
Kooperativa Insurance
Mastercard
mBank
N26
National Bank of Slovakia
NBS
OTP Banka
Post Bank
Poštova Banka
Premia
Raiffeisen International
Samsung Pay
Sberbank
SIA
Slovak Savings Bank
Slovenska Sporitel'ňa
SLSP
Tatra
Telefonica O2
Tesco
Ticketportal
Transacty Slovakia
Trustpay
UniCredit
UnionPay
Viamo
Visa
Volksbank
Vseobecná Úverová Banka
VUB
Worldline
Zuno
MORE EUROPE CARDS & PAYMENTS REPORTS
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