15:28 - 20.10.2026

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October 20, Fineko/abc.az. The number of active POS terminals in Azerbaijan is nearly five times lower than the total number of active taxpayers, MP Vugar Bayramov stated during a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Economic Policy, Industry, and Entrepreneurship.

According to the MP, 62.1% of all POS terminals are concentrated in Baku. While there are currently 883,000 active taxpayers in the country, only 184,400 POS terminals are in use. In Azerbaijan, there is one POS terminal per 60 people, compared to 29 in Georgia and 47 in Türkiye.

Bayramov also highlighted high interchange and transaction fees as key barriers to cashless payments. Interchange rates on Mastercard debit and prepaid cards range between 1.14% and 1.73% in Azerbaijan, compared to 0.65% in Türkiye and 0.9-1.3% in Kazakhstan. He noted that high banking service fees often exceed the 2% simplified tax rate for micro-entrepreneurs, disincentivizing transparent cashless transactions.