Card payments accelerate the growth of online commerce in Moldova: in the next two years, cards will become the main payment instrument, while cash withdrawals will decline - Veaceslav Ionita
The IDIS Viitorul economic policy expert expressed this opinion in his weekly economic analysis. He noted that today 79% of card turnover comes from domestic transactions with Moldovan cards, 11% from the use of foreign cards in Moldova, and 10% from payments with Moldovan cards abroad. In 2024, citizens of the country paid for goods and services with cards worth 83.8 billion lei, of which 62.1 billion lei were spent domestically and 18 billion lei abroad. In the first half of 2025, the annual amount rose to 96.5 billion lei, of which 71.4 billion lei were payments in Moldova, 21 billion lei were payments abroad, and 4.1 billion lei were payments with foreign cards. The volume of domestic online trade, including internet banking, amounted to 32.8 billion lei in 2024 and 37.6 billion lei in the first half of 2025, exceeding last year's annual figure. The expert emphasizes that since 2021, growth has been driven mainly by internet banking, and cards have become the main method of payment for goods. Veaceslav Ionita also notes that courier delivery is one type of foreign trade. "Postal services are actively developing, but they are provided by foreign companies that have created ideal logistics for the delivery of imported goods to individuals in Moldova. Postal services (five large and 14 small postal companies), as well as commercial banks, the government, and private companies, must create a unified online trading system in Moldova. The cost of courier services for each company is extremely high and makes us uncompetitive. We do not have a unified system that would allow us to pay online and deliver through specialized postal services," the expert noted. He also drew attention to the tremendous transformations that the Moldovan postal system is undergoing. In 2024, the state-owned company Poșta Moldovei lost its leading position in the market, accounting for 44% of the market share, after holding 52.3% in 2023. // 11.08.2025 — InfoMarket.
