Latvian central bank says COVID-19 changed people's payment habits significantly

Latvian central bank says COVID-19 changed people's payment habits significantly
By Linas Jegelevicius in Vilnius September 24, 2020

The Latvian central bank, Latvijas Banka, stated on September 24 that the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and the related restrictive measures concerning people's daily lives significantly affected payment habits in Latvia over the last six months.

The total volume of non-cash payments edged down for the first time in the Baltic country. At the same time, the share of non-cash payments in the total volume of payments is gradually increasing.

The latest edition of the "Payment Radar", published by the central bank, suggests the share of non-cash payments in the total volume of payments is gradually picking up; the proportion of cash and non-cash payments made by one inhabitant of Latvia constitutes 32% and 68% respectively (in February 2020 it was 36% and 64% respectively);

Both the popularity of instant payments and the use of instant links have followed an upward path; 20% of instant payment users made instant payments by indicating the payee's mobile phone number in August 2020 (11% in February 2020), but 46% of the population knew about this service (30% in February 2020).

The number of registered instant links has exceeded 235,000, and this service has been provided not only to the leading banks of Latvia but also to Estonian commercial banks via Latvijas Banka's infrastructure.

 

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