In the second quarter, the cost card transactions, recording an increase of 32.1% compared to the corresponding quarter last year, when the value of transactions reached 11.1 billion euros. The increase in card transactions, which occurs through the use of both debit cards as well as credit cardsconfirms continued significant penetration electronic payments in the daily habits of consumers who are increasingly using plastic money to buy goods or services.

The value of purchases of foreign bank cards by tourists increased by 134% to 2.5 billion euros.

Of the total amount of 14.7 billion euros, which was the value of card transactions, 2.5 billion euros was the value of transactions made with cards issued by foreign banks, that is, with cards used by tourists visiting our country, an amount that increased by 134% compared to the corresponding period last year. However, given that the figures compiled by the Hellenic Banks Association do not include data on the activities of Euronet Merchant Services using cards after the sale and allocation of card acceptance services from Piraeus Bank to the company in question, the final figures are estimated to be much higher, and the cost of electronic transactions made tourists using maps, even higher.

As for transactions with cards issued by Greek banks, the largest part, i.e. about 9.3 billion euros accounted for by debit card transactions carried out in the domestic market, which increased by 18.5% compared to the corresponding quarter of last year, while the value of transactions carried out with credit cards reached 1, 5 billion euros, an increase of 17.6%, in the second quarter of this year, confirming the recovery in consumer credit. It should be noted that private consumption in our country increased by 11.6% in the first quarter of the year, the period for which data are available, indicating that electronic payments are growing at a faster pace.

The lifting of restrictive measures and the weakening of the pandemic in the second quarter of 2022 compared to the same period last year also contributed to the increase in the use of debit and credit cards Greek women who traveled abroad, by 57% and 64.4%, while the value of transactions amounted to 915.9 million and 232.4 million euros, respectively. His summary Hellenic Banking Association also show a significant increase of 23.8% in the number of transactions carried out with cards, which reached 466.5 million at the end of the second quarter, compared with 376.7 million in the second quarter of 2021. Of these, 36.3 million euros are accounted for by cards. issued abroad, recording an increase of 130%, which is still less than the actual increase as it does not include Euronet Merchant Services operations after the sale of the related activities by Piraeus Bank.