Latvia Cards & Payments: Opportunities and Risks to 2023

Latvia Cards & Payments: Opportunities and Risks to 2023

Summary
’Latvia Cards & Payments: Opportunities and Risks to 2023’ report provides detailed analysis of market trends in Latvia’s cards and payments industry. It provides values and volumes for a number of key performance indicators in the industry, including credit transfers, cash, and cards during the review-period (2015-19e).

The report also analyzes various payment card markets operating in the industry, and provides detailed information on the number of cards in circulation, transaction values and volumes during the review-period and over the forecast-period (2019e-23f). It also offers information on the country’s competitive landscape, including the market shares of issuers and schemes.

The report brings together research, modeling, and analysis expertise to allow banks and card issuers to identify segment dynamics and competitive advantages. The report also covers details of regulatory policy and recent changes in the regulatory structure.

’Latvia Cards & Payments: Opportunities and Risks to 2023’ report provides top-level market analysis, information and insights into Latvia’s cards and payments industry, including -
- Current and forecast values for each market in Latvia’s cards and payments industry, including debit, credit, and charge cards.
- Detailed insights into payment instruments including credit transfers, cash, and cards. It also, includes an overview of the country’s key alternative payment instruments.
- E-commerce market analysis.
- Analysis of various market drivers and regulations governing Latvia’s cards and payments industry.
- Detailed analysis of strategies adopted by banks and other institutions to market debit, credit, and charge cards.

Scope
- To boost electronic payments in the country, in August 2017 Latvijas Banka (the country’s central bank) launched its Single Euro Payments Area-compliant instant payment system. Using the EKS system, a maximum of €30 ($34.37) can be transferred within seconds 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Citadele was the first bank in Latvia to introduce the instant payment service. In April 2019 the system was connected to the European-level TARGET Instant Payment Settlement service, thereby improving the reach of EKS across the region. As per the central bank, as of March 2019 nearly 3.3 million instant payments worth €650m ($744.61m) had been executed since the introduction of the instant payment service.
- The emergence of contactless technology has supported the growth of card-based payments. According to the Association of Latvian Commercial Banks there were 1.3 million contactless payment cards in 2019, and these cards were accepted at 28,399 contactless POS devices. To boost the number of contactless payments, the payment limit without a PIN was increased from €10 ($11.46) to €25 ($28.64) in April 2018. Meanwhile, Mastercard runs promotional campaigns to increase contactless card awareness. Mastercard partnered with Finance Latvia Association to introduce the Peak and Ready Information campaign, explaining the benefits of contactless billing to both merchants and card holders. Major retailers Maxima, Narvesen, and Rimi joined the campaign.
- Alternative payment solutions are gradually gaining prominence in Latvia. In June 2019, Apple launched its mobile payment solution Apple Pay, allowing users to make in-store, online, and in-app payments. Users can store their debit, credit, and store card details within Apple Pay and use the details to make payments at merchant outlets. Previously, Fortumo partnered with mobile operator LMT in January 2017 to launch its carrier billing service, allowing users to pay for digital content by charging it to their mobile phone bill or prepaid balance.

Reasons to buy
- Make strategic business decisions, using top-level historic and forecast market data, related to Latvia’s cards and payments industry and each market within it.
- Understand the key market trends and growth opportunities in Latvia’s cards and payments industry.
- Assess the competitive dynamics in Latvia’s cards and payments industry.
- Gain insights into marketing strategies used for various card types in Latvia.
- Gain insights into key regulations governing Latvia’s cards and payments industry.