Mastercard:The digital payments market level in Romania, rated at 56 out of 100 points

The development of digital payments in Romania scored 56 out of 100 points in 2022, according to the Digital Payments Index (DPI), an analysis tool developed by Mastercard. The result is calculated based on the individual scores registered by three sub-indexes, each with equal share in the final score: 70 for Infrastructure, 55 for Knowledge and 44 for Usage, and indicates a slight increase compared to 2021.

“In recent years, electronic payment solutions available in Romania have diversified, being adopted by more and more consumers, merchants and other players, including public administration, due to their inherent advantages and potential: efficiency and ease of use. The spread of these modern payment tools has been facilitated by the fact that digital transformation has become an important topic on the public agenda and a common objective of organisations across all sectors. Through our teams and competencies, Mastercard is continuously investing and collaborating with partners to develop the necessary infrastructure and programmes aimed at raising the level of general and applied knowledge and usage of digital payments nationwide,” said Cosmin Vladimirescu, General Manager Mastercard Romania and Croatia.

Infrastructure, Knowledge and Use sub-indexes overview

The Infrastructure sub-index explores the existing payment infrastructure and its ability to enable digital payments. In 2022, the Infrastructure sub-index scored 70 points and the payment infrastructure is expected to grow as the proportion of the population banked increases and new payment solutions such as QR code payments are introduced, but also as a result of the implementation of public strategies and policies in the area of digital transformation.

Read more about

Mastercard Tuesday continues with a new campaign dedicated to grocery shopping

read more

The Knowledge sub-index looks at consumers’ level of knowledge and understanding of digital payments and scored 55 out of 100 points in 2022, remaining with high potential for growth. Knowledge is generally acquired over a longer period of time and is mainly sedimented through application in practice.

The Usage sub-index shows the take-up of digital payments and their position compared to cash. It still scored the lowest of the three pillars: 44 points out of 100. The result indicates that the availability of digital payment solutions is not necessarily and immediately reflected in the pace of adoption. As such, there is a continued need for financial education initiatives and the creation of an interaction framework for users to familiarise themselves with the available digital payment methods and adopt them in their daily lives.

Romania’s position compared to other countries in the region

The Digital Payments Index report was conducted in 2022 in four markets: Austria, Croatia, Romania and Hungary and includes a comparison module between them. The module provides additional insight into the level of development of digital payments in each market analysed and can serve as a basis for cooperation between different stakeholders in these countries.

The overall scores for the countries analysed in 2022 range from 56 to 64 points on a scale of 1 to 100, with an average of 61 points. With 56 points, Romania ranks behind Croatia (64 points), Austria (62 points) and Hungary (61 points). The variation in scores is mainly driven by the results of the Infrastructure sub-index, where countries scored the highest, implying that all have a strong foundation for digital payments. The Knowledge and Usage sub-indexes scored lower, with a slight increase in scores for Knowledge, reflecting the current effort of Central and South-Eastern European countries in educating consumers about digital payment solutions.

Digital Payments Index (DPI) methodolgy

The Digital Payments Index aims to provide a comprehensive annual picture of payments, both quantitatively and qualitatively. This tool combines statistical data from public sources, Mastercard data for the year 2022, data sources identified through primary research and data from expert interviews to enrich the study with qualitative insights.

The study focuses on payments made by local consumers and therefore analyses transactions with local payment methods (use of accounts and cards), which includes both domestic and cross-border transactions.

The index is structured in three layers: indicator, component and sub-index. An indicator, the most granular element of the model, is a measure that analyses a particular angle of payment performance. All indicators were indexed on a scale of 1 to 100 and then aggregated into components to condense the information from individual KPIs. The components were weighted to form three sub-indexes, which were considered equally important and therefore equally weighted in the calculation of the overall index.

The consistency of the index results was checked in all countries to ensure reliability.