the Czech Republic

Cards dominate in Czech shops, but cash remains widely used. In the CNB’s November 2025 survey, 74% of people reported paying by card at a terminal and 74% in cash, and the CNB says three-quarters of Czechs prefer to pay by card, mainly debit cards. Apple Pay and Google Pay are standard. Bank Card Association (SBK) statistics cited by the CNB show more than 3.3 billion card payments at merchants in 2025, including abroad, averaging CZK 586. QR code payments at the point of sale, settled as instant bank transfers, were used by 31%, while 47% of Czechs said they do not use QR payments.

APEK and Heureka.cz put Czech e-shop turnover at CZK 206 billion in 2025, up 6% on 2024 and around 15% of retail; electronics is the largest category and health products grew fastest. Eurostat data show 75% of Czechs aged 16–74 bought online in the previous three months in 2025, well above the EU average of 62%. Parcel lockers are central to delivery: APEK’s surveys found 72% of online shoppers used a pick-up box at least once in December 2025, up from 56% in January, and there are about 17,000 boxes nationwide. Cash on delivery persists: in 2021, 21% of adults had paid cash on delivery for an online purchase, according to the World Bank Global Findex.

Česká národní banka (the Czech National Bank, CNB) is both the central bank and the financial market supervisor. It authorises payment institutions, e-money institutions and small-scale payment service providers under Act No. 370/2017 Coll. on the Payment System, which implements PSD2 and its strong customer authentication rules. The CNB also operates the CERTIS interbank system and manages the domestic instant payment scheme (up to CZK 2.5 million per payment), has opened CERTIS to non-bank payment service providers and set up a National Payments Forum in June 2026 focused on fraud prevention and instant payments. Under the EU Instant Payments Regulation, Czech banks must be able to receive instant euro payments from January 2027 and send them from July 2027.

According to the World Bank Global Findex, 92.3% of Czech adults had an account in 2024, compared with 94.9% in 2021, and 88.1% owned a debit card; credit cards are far less common, owned by 29.9% of adults in 2021. Cash remains part of everyday life, with 74% of people reporting cash use in the CNB’s November 2025 survey, alongside near-universal access to instant payments among bank clients.