BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, March 5. Kyrgyzstan's payment organizations processed 63.9 million transactions totaling 120.4 billion soms ($1.346 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2023, Trend reports.
The overall number of transactions surged by 18.6 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2022, with transaction volume skyrocketing by 86.3 percent, according to data from the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan.
A significant portion of the transactions during the reporting period were attributed to payments for financial and credit services (excluding electronic wallet top-ups), comprising 20.7 million transactions (32.5 percent of total transactions) amounting to 88.4 billion soms ($988.482 million), or 73.4 percent of the total transaction volume.
The other primary payments through payment organizations include:
Payments to mobile network operators amounted to 8.4 billion soms ($93.928 million), accounting for 7 percent of the total transaction volume. This comprised 21.4 million transactions, representing 33.6 percent of total transactions.
Payments to governmental and municipal suppliers of goods and services, such as utility bills, tax payments, traffic fines, and other state budget payments, totaled 3.7 billion soms ($41.373 million), constituting 3.1 percent of the total transaction volume. This involved 4.8 million transactions, accounting for 7.6 percent of total transactions.
Electronic wallet top-ups reached 9.7 billion soms ($108.464 million), making up 8.1 percent of the total transaction volume. This encompassed 5 million transactions, or 7.8 percent of total transactions.
As of December 31, 2023, the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan had issued licenses to 31 legal entities. Among these, 29 licenses were granted for operating as payment system operators, while 30 licenses were allocated for payment organizations.