Use of debit cards amongst Irish consumers for making payments has increased, while the use of cheques has come down, according to payment statistics revealed by the Irish Payment Services Organisation (IPSO).
The ISPO data found that debit card usage has more than quadrupled in 2013 since 2005 in Ireland.
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In 2013, debit cards registered 10% growth to 341 million purchases and a 14% rise in value of debit card sales to 17.6bn, as against 309 million purchases and 15.4bn sales in 2012.
Credit card sales, however, were down by under 5% in 2013, driven by continuing trend among many countries, where debit cards are witnessing a growing preferance.
Comparatively, less than 70 million cheques were used in 2013, compared to 132 million cheques used in 2005.
The data also reported that consumers spent around 28bn through payment cards.
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By GlobalDataIrish Banking Federation (IBF) and IPSO CEO, Noel Brett, said the fact there is a clear trend towards greater usage of debit cards as well as a steady decline in cheques is a sign that Ireland is embracing a new era in payments and it will further benefit customers, retailers and businesses across the country as the speed and efficiency of payments further improve.
"One of the major initiatives of The National Payments Plan, ‘e-Day’ will see the end of cheque usage between the public sector and businesses from September 19th this year. This should encourage SMEs to migrate away from cheque usage and help boost Ireland’s competitiveness as SMEs are currently issuers or receivers of more than 60% of all cheques in Ireland," Brett added.
