Bank payment cards as the main form of modern monetary relations and basis of money circulation

Abstract

Introduction. Today, payment cards are a key tool for remote access of money holders to bank accounts and a means of moving funds through the financial sector, and therefore are the main driver of the organization of payment services. This allows to assert that the development of banking operations with payment cards is of fundamental importance for ensuring the smooth functioning of settlement systems, improving the mechanisms of monetary regulation and providing the economy with an adequate amount of means of payment, which decisively depends on the effective organization of money circulation in general. Due to the fact that payment cards are one of the most powerful tools that affect the structure of the country's entire payment circulation, the study of card payment systems and the market of payment instruments at the macro level is becoming increasingly important and relevant. Goal. The purpose of the article is to evaluate the modern role of bank payment cards as the main form of monetary relations, in connection with which there is a need to clarify the main trends in the development of the market of payment instruments. Methodology. General scientific techniques and tools, methods of analysis and synthesis, comparison, consolidation and grouping, scientific abstraction are used. Results. The current trends in the development of the payment system in the context of digitalization of the economy and virtualization of monetary relations, in which payment cards are a key tool for access to bank accounts and a means of moving funds, are analyzed. The role of payment cards as the basis of the modern settlement mechanism, which affects the structure of payment circulation, is considered, and the advantages of payment cards for all participants in settlement transactions are determined. The current trends in the development of the payment card market in Ukraine in terms of the number, volume and structure of card transactions are studied and systematized. The negative trends and problems accompanying transactions with payment cards are analyzed, and the directions of optimization of the settlement mechanism are determined.