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Last year, nearly 70 percent of all retail payments in Poland were cashless transactions[1]. Poles most often paid with payment cards (41 percent) and with their phone, watch or jewelry with NFC functionality (18 percent). The Pay As You Like campaign promoting modern payments – the next installment of We Did It In Poland, in cooperation with the WłączeniPlus Foundation and the Cashless Poland Foundation – is launching on June 11. Pay As You Like shows how friendly the cashless payment ecosystem is in Poland, which is used by entrepreneurs and millions of consumers on a daily basis.
The share of digital payments in the number of retail payments in Poland in 2005 was just 2 percent. – According to data from the Poland Without Cash Foundation. However, as early as 2016, one in three transactions was made this way. In 2020, more than half (54 percent) of retail payments were cashless, and in 2024 it is already 69 percent of all transactions. Importantly, in more than 7 years of the Foundation’s activity, the number of payment terminals on the Polish market increased from 0.6 million in 2018 to 1.3 million in 2024. This ensured Poland’s promotion from 16th to 7th place in Europe in terms of the number of terminals per 1,000 inhabitants. This change has been noticed and appreciated by consumers, who are very eager to use digital payments. The data accompanies another installment of the We Did It In Poland campaign, which aims to promote Polish achievements at home and abroad.
– The next installment of the We Did It In Poland campaign is a response to the growing interest in what is happening in the Polish technology and financial sector. We see that the Polish cashless payment market is developing dynamically and can be an inspiring example of successful digitization. The aim of the campaign is to show this progress in a broader, international context . As proof that Poland is not only adapting modern solutions, but is doing so on a large scale and with impressive efficiency ,” he says. Olga Kozierowska, the creator of the We Did It In Poland campaign, a member of the Council of Non-Governmental Organizations for Poland’s Presidency in the Council of the European Union, and president of IncludedPlus Foundation .
Two out of five transactions are those made by payment card
At retail and service outlets as recently as 2018, cashless payments accounted for 43 percent of transactions. Already in 2024, it was nearly 70 percent. Two out of three were cashless transactions, including 41 percent. – by payment card, 18 percent. – mobile NFC, 4 percent. – Blik, and 6 percent. – other payment methods, such as through apps.
Poles were most likely to make cashless transactions via debit card and contactless NFC payments at stores selling shoes and clothing – 72 percent of all payments. Slightly less was recorded in drugstores and pharmacies (71 percent) and in stores selling household appliances/RTV, furniture and building materials (70 percent).
We are increasingly paying cashless for parking, highways and transportation
Over the past few years, many industries have seen a significant increase in the share of digital payments. These include parking and highway tolls, which as recently as 2018 were cashless for only 10 percent of transactions. Now it is already 51 percent (an increase of 42 percentage points). The share of cashless payments at vending machines has also increased (up 39 pp. from 31 percent to 69 percent), as well as for public transportation and cab fares (up 33 pp. from just 9 percent to 41 percent).
– Since the inception of the Cashless Poland Foundation, we have been supporting the payment transformation in Poland, and today its effects are clearly visible – digital payments are growing not only in stores
or e-commerce, but also in sectors such as transportation, services or automated sales. This shows that digitization is becoming a viable standard and supporting
in everyday life and business. Our mission is to create the future of payments for the benefit of consumers and business – especially among small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, who are increasingly willing to use modern payment technologies
as a development tool ,” says Joanna Erdman, CEO of the Cashless Poland Foundation.
As part of We Did It In Poland an international fintech industry campaign is being launched in cooperation with the Cashless Poland Foundation – Pay As You Like. The image campaign promotes the modern ecosystem of cashless payments, which is developing rapidly in Poland, thanks to numerous financial institutions and the cooperation of the entire sector. The campaign highlights the benefits of the ecosystem for all groups of its recipients: consumers (everyday payments), entrepreneurs in the SME sector (business benefits). It includes a TV spot that will be aired on English-language television in Europe and around the world.
We Did It In Poland Campaign
The We Did It In Poland campaign of the IncludedPlus Foundation has been under the patronage of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Among its goals is to strengthen the image of Poland as an innovative, dynamic and modern country, making a significant contribution to the development of the European Union. The campaign is also intended to initiate conversation about Polish successes, activate Poles and encourage them to share in social media their stories, photos or videos related to what they have achieved, what inspires them in Poland, what or whom in our country they admire. Information about Polish innovations worth bragging about will also be able to be submitted via a form on the website.
The partner of the second installment of the campaign is the Cashless Poland Foundation.
The Cashless Poland Foundation was established to undertake activities in the development of cashless payments in Poland, in particular through the expansion of the network of acceptance of payment instruments, dissemination and promotion of cashless trading, as well as activities to build technological innovations in payments. The Foundation’s stakeholders are: Mastercard, Visa, the Ministry of Finance, the Polish Bank Association, as well as banks and clearing agents. For more information, visit www.polskabezgotowkowa.pl
[1] POLASIK Research, Payment habits and the development of card acceptance networks in Poland: consumer survey 2024, research report, March 2025
