In the first quarter of 2020, the number of participants and payment transactions as well as income of the electronic money and payment institutions (EMIs/PIs) sector continued to grow at a rapid pace, reports Bank of Lithuania executing licencing and oversight of financial institutions.

In the first quarter of 2020, the total amount of payment transactions executed by EMIs and PIs stood at €19.2 billion. On a year-on-year basis, this amount grew 1.8 times and firms received €23.6 million in income from licensed activities – an increase of €7.1 million (1.4 times) compared to the first quarter of 2019. 73% of income was generated by EMIs and the remaining 27% – by PIs.

At the end of the first quarter of 2020, the public list of electronic money and payment institutions included 117 licensed entities. Lithuania remains the leader in continental Europe in terms of licensed EMIs and PIs, and the interest in the country is still not fading – the Bank of Lithuania usually has to examine 40–50 licensing applications (currently – 33 EMI 13 PI applications).

“The first quarter trends have shown that the EMI/PI sector is developing in leaps and bounds. On the other hand, the COVID-19 outbreak has caused tremendous uncertainty and we will be able to assess its impact in the next quarter,” – said Rūta Merkevičiūtė, Head of the Electronic Money and Payment Institutions Supervision Division at the Bank of Lithuania.