Analysis of the relationship between digital banking and the development of cashless payments in Azerbaijan

This study focuses on the interconnection between digital banking and cashless payments development in Azerbaijan on the basis of the official statistics and recent scientific works. The analysis is based on the Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan digital payments reports (2023-2025), its official press-release (12 March 2026).. Descriptive statistics and year to year comparison are used, in addition content analysis. However, the cashless share of domestic card payments grew to 67.6% in 2025, and the value of domestic cashless card payments increased by 26% to AZN 99.1 billion. The value of current-account transfers made through digital banking was 82.5% of the current-account transfers by value, while the number of current-account transfers made through digital banking was 94.4% of the current-account transfers by number. In 2019, internet-banking transfers have totalled AZN 308.9 billion, mobile-banking transfers – AZN 73 billion. Increase in the number of Instant Payments System transactions by 12.5 times and implementation of the unified AZQR standard enhanced account-based payments. The results show that digital banking correlates with cashless transformation, which is due to convenience, reduction of transaction cost, high level of acceptance infrastructure, increased competition, and user trust (the descriptive design does not imply causal effect). However, cyber security, digital literacy, unequal access and data protection are still relevant limitations.