Market Snapshot (as of 1 April 2025)
| Metric | Visa | Mastercard | YoY Change vs. Apr 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cards in circulation | 69.22 m | 67.75 m | Visa +8.3 pp / MC –5 pp |
| Market share (all cards) | 50.4 % | 49.3 % | Visa surpasses MC for first time |
| Active cards* | 29.32 m | 29.94 m | Gap shrinks to 0.6 pp |
| Non-cash txn (Mar 2025) | 409 m / ₴198 bn | 346 m / ₴183.9 bn | Visa leads volume & count |
| ATM cash-outs (Mar 2025) | 17 m / ₴90.9 bn | 21 m / ₴114.1 bn | MC still ahead |
*≥ 1 spending txn in past 30 days
What Drove Visa’s Surge?
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Monobank Migration – Universal Bank shifted most clients from Mastercard to Visa in late 2024.
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Virtual-Card Boom – Digital-first issuance favours Visa rails.
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Promo Economics – Lower interchange & co-brand incentives swayed issuers.
Bank-by-Bank Card Growth (Q1 2025)
| Bank | Total Cards (m) | QoQ Δ | Active Cards (m) | QoQ Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PrivatBank | 58.17 | ▲ 2.6 % | 31.97 | ▲ 1.4 % |
| Universal/mono | 24.18 | ▲ 4.1 % | 9.72 | ▼ 0.6 % |
| Oschadbank | 19.22 | ▲ 8.4 % | 8.00 | ▲ 2.9 % |
Total active cards nationwide: 59.4 m (▲ 1.2 % QoQ).
Key Trends to Watch
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Active-Card Tug-of-War: Mastercard still edges Visa on monthly usage; gap now <1 %.
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Cash vs. Digital: Mastercard leads ATM withdrawals; Visa dominates POS & e-commerce growth.
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Competition for Monobank 2.0: Any new fintech migration could swing share again.
