Estonia Cards And Payments: Opportunities And Risks To 2029

The ‘Estonia Cards and Payments: Opportunities and Risks to 2029' report provides detailed analysis of market trends in the Estonian cards and payments industry. It provides values and volumes for a number of key performance indicators in the industry, including card, cash, and credit transfer during the review-period (2021-25e).

The report also analyzes various payment card markets operating in the industry and provides detailed information on the number of cards in circulation, transaction values and volumes during the review-period and over the forecast-period (2025e-29f). It also offers information on the country's competitive landscape, including market shares of issuers and schemes.

The report brings together the analyst’s research, modeling, and analysis expertise to allow banks and card issuers to identify segment dynamics and competitive advantages. The report also covers detailed regulatory policies and recent changes in regulatory structure.

The ‘Estonia Cards and Payments: Opportunities and Risks to 2029' report provides top-level market analysis, information and insights into the Estonian cards and payments industry, including:

• Current and forecast values for each market in the Estonian cards and payments industry, including debit, credit and charge cards.
• Detailed insights into payment instruments including cash, cards, and credit transfer. It also, includes an overview of the country's key alternative payment instruments.
• Ecommerce market analysis.
• Analysis of various market drivers and regulations governing the Estonian cards and payments industry.
• Detailed analysis of strategies adopted by banks and other institutions to market debit, credit and charge cards.
• Comprehensive analysis of consumer attitudes and buying preferences for cards.
• The competitive landscape of the Estonian cards and payments industry.

Key Highlights

• Amid the global uncertainty and major disruptions that have involved disrupting or cutting internet connections globally, Estonia and Nordic European countries are taking proactive measures. In May 2025, they began developing offline card payment systems to mitigate the impact of potential outages on online services. By January 2026, Estonia plan to implement technologies that enable payment terminals to encrypt and store transaction data offline. This would allow credit and debit card users to continue making purchases even during prolonged internet disruptions. This enables card holders to make transactions for essential goods like food, fuel, and medicine.
• Payment card fraud remains relatively low in Estonia, but incidents are on the rise. The central bank reported 18,000 fraud cases involving bank cards in Estonia in 2023. Additionally, four out of every 100,000 bank card transactions in Estonia were fraudulent, a significantly lower rate compared to the European average of 15 fraudulent transactions per 100,000. To combat this trend, the Estonian government is increasing public awareness about fraud prevention measures, such as understanding the functionality of authentication devices and the importance of safeguarding personal data.
• Contactless payments are gaining traction in Estonia. This is attributed to the rising adoption of contactless payments especially in public transportation. In August 2023, the Tallinn Transport Department and AS Ridango (a public transport IT company) introduced Apple Pay Express Mode for use across Tallinn’s public transport network. This contactless payment system allows users of Apple devices to purchase tickets using NFC technology without having to activate or authenticate their device. Even if the consumer’s Apple device falls to 0% battery, the Express Mode service can still be used for up to five hours afterwards.

Scope

• Card market size in terms of number of cards, value and volume of transactions in Estonia along with detailed card segmentation of debit, credit and charge cards available in the country.
• Market sizing and analysis of major payment instruments including card, cash, and credit transfer .
• Payment market trends and growth for both historical and forecast period
• Competitor analysis with detailed insights into leading card issuers and schemes.
• Comprehensive analysis of consumer attitudes and buying preferences for cards.
• A detailed snapshot of country's key alternative payment brands.

Reasons to Buy

• Make strategic business decisions, using top-level historic and forecast market data, related to the Estonia cards and payments industry and each market within it.
• Understand the key market trends and growth opportunities in the Estonia cards and payments industry.
• Assess the competitive dynamics in the Estonia cards and payments industry.
• Gain insights into marketing strategies used for various card types in Estonia.
• Gain insights into key regulations governing the Estonia cards and payments industry.