Payment cards market in Ukraine: prospects and limitations of development

Over the recent twenty years, due to the rapid development of information and communication technologies and their active involvement in the banking business, credit cards have spread at the highest rate among the global instruments of retail payment. The active proliferation of pay cards offers significant prospects for stimulating consumer demand and intensifying economic processes, but also has a number of significant risks. According to this, the article analyzes the prospects and risks of the quick payment cards spreading in Ukraine. The author assesses the current state and modern trends of the payment card market in Ukraine compared with EU countries, and generalizes the practice of state support of the development of special means of payment in EU countries. There are conclusions about potential benefits of further spread of card payments in Ukraine, the main of which are: reduction of the volume of cash in circulation, revival of economic processes and their increased transparency, increase in tax revenues and approaching of Ukrainian financial markets to the world level. These advantages significantly exceed the potential risks. To finish with, the author provides guidelines and recommendations on the measures and instruments of state support of the development of payment cards market in Ukraine to contribute in the solution of the problem of the growing share of cash payments and increase the efficiency of domestic financial market.