Visa retains its lead by number of active cards in Ukraine in 2025

MOSCOW. Feb 17 (Interfax) - The number of Visa payment system cards issued by Ukrainian banks increased 25.3%, or by 16.11 million to 79.72 million in 2025, while the number of Mastercard payment cards went up by less than 1%, or by 520,000 to 68.47 million in the reporting period.

The total number of payment cards issued in Ukraine grew 12.6%, or by 16.68 million to 148.72 million in 2025, Ukrainian media reported, citing data from the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU). Visa had a market share of 53.6% and Mastercard 46% as of January 1, 2026 versus 48.2% and 51.5%, respectively, a year earlier.

Meanwhile, the total number of active payment cards (at least one expense transaction over the past month) rose 11.4%, or by 6.67 million to 65.43 million in 2025.

There were 33.18 million active Visa cards and 32.03 million active cards of the Mastercard system in Ukraine as of the beginning of 2026. There were 30.07 million active cards of the Mastercard system and 28.48 million active Visa cards at the beginning of 2025. The gap between these two payment systems narrowed substantially in December 2025, when the number of active Visa cards grew by 1.62 million, and Mastercard by 3.96 million.

The Visa payment system's share in the Ukrainian market stood at 50.7% and Mastercard's at 49% as of the beginning of 2026, versus 48.5% and 51.2%, respectively, at the beginning of 2025.

The share of Prostir National Payment System cards in the Ukrainian market remains at slightly below 3%. The number of active Prostir cards increased by 9,000 year-on-year to 214,000 as of the beginning of 2026.