The exact number is 822 036. That's how many terminals for cashless payments there were on the Polish market at the end of the first quarter of 2019. The latest data from the National Bank of Poland was published on the bank's website. It includes statistical information on payment cards. NBP's data also shows us that every single payment terminal has contactless transaction functionality.

Related: Alior Introduces Ethereum Based Durable Medium

The Polish central bank states that as of March, there were over 813 thousand POS terminals that accepted mobile payments in Poland. That means there are still devices on the market that accept contactless card payments but won't work with Apple Pay or Google Pay. Luckily, there are very few of those - only about 9 thousand. At the end of the last quarter over 227 thousand terminals offered cashback functionality, which means they can be used to withdraw cash while paying for shopping by card.

Related: Here Is the 2019 Polish Fintech Map

822 thousand terminals is, of course, a record number. It means that the growth of Poland's card acceptance network is accelerating. Let me remind you that at the end of the first quarter of 2018, the market had 655 thousand terminals. It means that their number increased by about 167 thousand in one year - Poland's POS terminal network has never grown so quickly before. There is no doubt the credit goes to the Cashless Poland foundation, which sponsors the installation and maintenance of terminals in small and medium businesses. The financing for that is provided by banks, payment organizations and terminal operators.