According to Interbank Card Center (BKM) data, the number of card payments increased by 3 percent in March compared to the same period last year, while the number of cash withdrawals decreased by 14 percent.
BKM announced card payment data for March. Accordingly, as of the end of March, the total number of cards increased by 9 percent annually, reaching 239 million. While the number of card payment transactions increased by 3 percent compared to the same period last year, the number of cash withdrawals decreased by 14 percent compared to the previous year. In the same period, the amount of card payments increased by 9 percent compared to the previous year and reached a total of 85.5 billion lira. The cash withdrawal amount increased slightly compared to the previous month, by 8 percent, reaching 81.6 billion lira.
Market-food payments increased
The three sectors in which card payment amounts increased the most in March compared to last year were grocery-food, electronic goods and health-cosmetics. Compared to the same period last year, there was a 44 percent increase in the market-food sector and a 16 percent increase in electronic goods and health-cosmetics. With the effect of the measures taken along with the epidemic, a 42 percent contraction was observed in the airlines and accommodation sectors and a 33 percent contraction in travel agencies.
Contactless payments nearly tripled
During this period of extraordinary days, the number of payments made with contactless cards, which are fast, easy and hygienic, nearly tripled compared to the same period of 2019 and reached 85.8 million. As of March 18, the password-free transaction limit for contactless payments was increased to 250 lira, and contactless payment technology became available for more payments.
While 1 in every 5 in-store payments was made contactless in March, 2.5 million different cards were used for contactless payments for the first time. While contactless payments peaked especially in the second week of March, when the social isolation process began, the sectors with the most contactless payments were markets, restaurants and health/cosmetics.
3 million cards were used for online payments for the first time
While 1 lira of every 5 lira card payment was made online in March, 3 million cards were used for online payments for the first time. The amount of online card payments increased by 19 percent compared to the same period last year, reaching 16.5 billion lira.
Grocery-food was one of the sectors that saw the highest increase in online card payment amounts. Online payments in the grocery-food sector increased approximately 2.5 times compared to the same period last year and amounted to 1.7 billion lira.
Source: https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/ekonomi/temassiz-odemeler-3-katina-cikti/1795453
