The value of transactions made with “plastic money” reached 54 billion euros in 2022, representing 38.5% of total consumer spending, which reached 130 billion euros in the same period.

As Cardlink CEO Antigonos Papadopoulos noted in his presentation at the Digital Banking Forum hosted by Ethos Events, the evolution of card payments confirms that the growth of digital transactions is no longer driven by emergencies such as COVID-19, but has moved into the daily lives of consumers. behavior.

Of the total amount of 54 billion euros that were the value of card transactions, 44.7 billion euros were made with cards issued by Greek banks, and 9.3 billion were consumer spending with cards issued by foreign banks and made in our country by foreign tourists. In terms of transaction volume, their number increased from 1 billion in 2019 to 1.8 billion in 2022.

This trend continues in the first quarter of the year as debit and credit card usage continues to grow at a rate of 15% in the first quarter of 2023, with a 17% increase in transactions, according to Cardlink data. Greek cards dominate this trend, up 15.5% in value and 18% in quantity, while foreign card transactions declined 10% in value and increased 9% in quantity.

According to Cardlink, transactions of up to 10 euros at the terminals of stores account for just under half, as Mr. Papadopoulos noted, “more and more people are getting used to making small purchases with their card.” In particular, 42% – up to 10 euros, 8.5% – up to 5 euros and 7.5% – up to 2 euros. The behavior is similar in e-commerce: up to 10 euros is 20% of transactions, up to 5 euros is 5%, and up to 2 euros is 1% of transactions.

The number of card transactions increased to 1.8 billion in 2022 from 1 billion in 2019.

The spread of card transactions was facilitated by the rapid expansion of their points of acceptance, that is, POS terminals, the number of which, according to the data provided by Mastercard’s regional manager for Greece, Cyprus and Malta, Panagiotis Polidoros, is 775,000, for a total of 820,000 merchants.

The increase in card transactions is estimated to have brought about 300 million euros to the state treasury last year, and their further expansion is a tool to reduce tax evasion, which is widespread in our country and, according to IOBE, is 20%. VAT losses.

International players

The rapid growth in card transactions also explains the entry into the Greek market of large international players in the field of card acceptance, with a valuation approaching 1.5 billion euros. In this context, Worldline acquired the respective operations of Eurobank (it also acquired Cardlink), Euronet Piraeus Bank, Nexi Alfa Bank and Evo Payments the respective operations of the National Bank.

According to the CEOs of the respective companies speaking at the same conference, the inclusion of these activities in international groups will allow for economies of scale, as well as create new tools for faster and more secure electronic payments.