Transformation of the foundations of financial activity and the banking services market under digitalization

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to provide a theoretical substantiation of the transformation of the foundations of financial activity and the banking services market under digitalization and to conduct a structural and dynamic assessment of changes in the payment and banking infrastructure of Ukraine. The object of the study is the interconnected processes of organizing the financial activity of economic entities and providing banking services amid the spread of remote channels, cashless payments, automated data processing, and service models based on applied digital technologies. The methodological basis combines systemic, structural-functional, comparative, and statistical approaches. The quantitative assessment uses official data of the National Bank of Ukraine on bank structural units, POS terminals, active payment cards, and the structure of card transactions. The results demonstrate that digitalization changes the content of financial activity by shortening the time gaps between the occurrence of a transaction, its recording, control, and managerial response. The banking services market is moving from a predominantly branch-based model toward a combination of mobile and internet banking, payment infrastructure, automated scoring, personalized communication, and remote customer support. During 2021–2025, the number of bank structural units decreased by approximately 28.4%, the number of POS terminals increased by 37.8%, and the number of active payment cards rose by 41.3%. The proposed structural-digital transformation coefficient increased from 1.000 to 1.948, indicating a faster expansion of remote and cashless service infrastructure than of the physical branch network. The scientific novelty lies in combining the transformation of financial activity and the banking services market within a single process of changing the way financial information is generated, moved, controlled, and used. The practical significance of the results is determined by the possibility of applying the proposed assessment to analyze the trajectory of banking service development, plan customer interaction channels, and assess the sufficiency of cashless payment infrastructure.