The development potential of non-cash payments market in Poland

The issue of non-cash transactions in Poland is of particular importance due to the ongoing socio-economic transformation. After the recent statutory reduction in the interchange fee charged to merchants for card payment, the value of non-cash transactions can be significantly increased. This trend has been observed in other countries and the faster development of supporting infrastructure has also been noted. The quality and availability of such infrastructure in Poland is improving, and due to the guidance issued by payment organizations, in two years time the card acceptance network in Poland will be one of the most modern in the world. There are also important social changes - currenlty the most active group using non-cash settlements are young and middle-aged people with tertiary education. The development of education enforces the growing awareness of safety and comfort of the solutions based on non-cash payments. Polish society is using bank services more often and an increasing number of a debit and credit cards is issued. Moreover, Poland is a particulary absorbent market for innovation, therefore the development of mobile payments may be faster than in other countries. Implementation of modern technologies, such as payments using biometric features, will also contribute to the development of non-cash transactions