Estonian youths are the most active bank card users in the Baltic States

A survey conducted by SEB has revealed that 76 per cent of Estonian youths use a card to pay for all of their purchases. In Latvia, 59 per cent of those aged 18 to 25 prefer a bank card, whereas the proportion of such people is only 40 per cent in Lithuania.

Two-thirds of Estonian youths spend only up to 25 per cent of their monthly income in cash, with a mere 10 per cent of those aged 18 to 25 using cash to complete over 75 per cent of their purchases.

Compared to the other Baltic States, Estonia has significantly better card payment facilities. While 29 per cent of youths in Lithuania often encounter situations where they are unable to pay with a card, in Latvia the number is 24 per cent and in Estonia it is only 15 per cent of youths. Card payments normally cannot be made at the market in all three Baltic States, followed by cafés and restaurants in Latvia and by cultural events and outdoor festivals in Lithuania.

“The development of technology enables card payments to now be accepted across Estonia. We would like to invite people to use the SEB mobile app to let us know where they would like to make card payments for purchases or services, but are unable to at the moment. By using the app, consumers can let a merchant know that they would use the services of the business more often if card payments could be made there. So far, clients have tagged 500 businesses where card payments cannot be made,” commented Erika Vaikmäe-Koit, Head of Retail Banking and Technology at SEB.

If a user wishes to tag a point of sale without a card terminal, they need to open the address seb.ee/kaart in the browser of their smart phone, find the right location on the map, and tag it.

*The data used in this text is based on a survey conducted by SEB in all three Baltic States in 2015, with a total of 2002 respondents.


For more information:

Maarja Gavronski
Project Manager for Communication
Marketing and Communications Division
SEB Pank

Phone +372 665 5270
Mobile +372 5656 5785
Address Tornimäe 2, 15010 Tallinn
E-mail maarja.gavronski@seb.ee 
www.seb.ee