How do people in Latvia pay online?
Seven in ten Latvians shop online. Eurostat puts the share of people who bought something online in the previous 12 months at 69.73% in 2025, below the EU average of 73.56%.
Cards lead, with bank payments close behind. In the ECB’s 2024 survey of consumer payments (SPACE), cards made 44.8% of Latvian consumers’ online payments by number, below the euro area figure of 48%. Credit transfers made 15.6% and instant payments 6.8%, together more than twice the euro area share of about 10%. E-payment solutions, which the ECB defines as payment wallets, PayPal and other mobile apps, made 18.4%.
Latvia is moving away from cash. Latvijas Banka’s Payment Radar put the non-cash share of payments at 79% in February 2026, a historical high, with about seven card payments and five online payments per adult each week. In 2025, 60% of all non-cash payments were made with cards and 36% were credit transfers.
Phone payments are growing fast. In the same survey, 32% of the population paid with a smartphone daily in February 2026, up from 21% in August 2025. Apple Pay and Google Pay are both available in Latvia, according to Apple’s and Google’s own country lists.
What rules shape online payments in Latvia?
VAT is 21%. PwC lists a reduced rate of 12% for items such as listed medicines, domestic public transport and accommodation, and from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 also for bread, milk, fresh poultry and fresh eggs, plus 5% for books and magazines. A seller established in another EU country whose cross-border sales to consumers pass EUR 10,000 a year charges Latvian VAT and can declare it through the One Stop Shop.
Shoppers have 14 days to withdraw. Under EU consumer rules, the period for goods runs from the day of delivery. Since 19 June 2026 online shops must also offer an electronic withdrawal function under Directive (EU) 2023/2673.
Card payments need strong customer authentication and cannot carry a surcharge. Your Europe explains that online payments above EUR 30 need at least two authentication elements and that sellers may not charge extra for paying by credit or debit card.
Instant payments are standard. Under the EU Instant Payments Regulation, euro area banks must receive instant transfers since 9 January 2025 and send them, with a check of the payee’s name against the IBAN, since 9 October 2025. Latvijas Banka counted 57.4 million payee verification requests between October 2025 and the end of February 2026.
Personal data falls under the GDPR, supervised in Latvia by the Data State Inspectorate (Datu valsts inspekcija).
How would Omno route payments in Latvia?
A merchant would connect once and set routing rules per method, amount and customer group. In Latvia:
- Bank payments would go to a provider that offers payment initiation with Latvian banks, with the hosted checkout showing the bank list and the payment confirmed by the provider’s notification.
- Card pay-ins would follow rules by BIN, currency and amount, with cascading: if a provider is unavailable or rejects the request, the payment moves to the next provider in the rule until one accepts.
- Apple Pay and Google Pay would be shown in the hosted checkout through providers that support them, which suits the growing number of shoppers who pay by phone.
- Customer groups could be set so that shoppers with a Latvian billing address see bank payments next to cards, while foreign shoppers see cards and wallets first.
Webhooks would report the final status of every payment, and the routing-decision log would show which provider handled each payment and why.
What should merchants plan for?
Plan for cards and bank payments together. Cards lead, but more than one online payment in five is a credit transfer or an instant payment.
Plan for phone wallets. A third of Latvians now pay by smartphone every day, so Apple Pay and Google Pay belong next to the card form.
Plan for the withdrawal button. Add the online withdrawal function required since 19 June 2026 to the order pages.
Plan for VAT at 21%. Check whether your EU sales pass the EUR 10,000 threshold and register for the One Stop Shop if they do.