Poland Payment Card Market

There were 41.2 million payment cards in circulation in Poland at the end of 2018, a 5.3% increase in comparison with 2017. The predominant card category in Poland are debit cards – 32.6 million (79% of all payment cards in 2018).  The number of credit cards totaled 5.87 million in 2018 (14.2%).  The use of contactless payment cards increased by 11% over 2017, an in 2018 34.7 million contactless cards for 84% of all credit and debit card transactions.  The number of payment card transactions in 2018 increased by 18% and totaled 5.424 million, which was 18% increase over 2017, which had 4.596 million transactions.  The overwhelming majority (91%) were transactions with debit cards.  

In 2018, there were 786,200 Point of Sale (POS) terminals in Poland, an increase of 24% when compared with 2017.  The major reason for this substantial grow was launch of a Cashless Payment Support Program (“Cashless Poland”) in January 2018.  The program that was created jointly by the Ministry of Economic Development, international payment card companies, banks and aimed to develop Poland’s card payment infrastructure by establishing a special fund that financed the installation of POS terminals at small and medium sized companies.  

The fund covers the costs of the POS terminal and the transaction fees for the first 12 months that a company enters the system.  All POS terminals in Poland accept contactless payments, although not all terminals accept contactless smartphone transactions. Customers can also take advantage of a cash withdrawal service while paying for their merchandise at 259,900 shops.  This may account for the decline in the number of ATMs in use in Poland.  In 2017, there were 23,230 compared to 22,885 at the end of 2018. 

Internet card payment transactions are developing rapidly in Poland.  There were 76.8 million internet transactions in 2018, a 45% increase in volume over 2017, where there were 53.1 million transactions.  The value of Poland’s internet sales totaled $2 billion in 2017 and increased 36% to $2.8 billion in 2018.

For more information contact office.warsaw@trade.gov.