Irish customers in 2013 have continued to change their payment habits as more and more switch from writing cheques to using debit cards.
According to Irish Payment Services Organisation Ltd. (IPSO) debit cards sales amounted to €17.6 billion last year, a 14% rise from 2012 and a 10% growth in total purchases to €341 million. Since 2005 the use of debit cards has seen a growth of over 400% from 79 million to 341 million last year.
Conversely the use of cheques has declined for the eighth consecutive year. Fewer than 70 million cheques were used in Ireland last year, almost half of the 123 million used for transactions in 2005.
Commenting on these figures, IBF/IPSO Chief Executive 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 19 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.
Ireland is still the EU’s second highest user of cash, with an average of almost €4500 in cash withdrawals per person in 2013. However according to IPSO the amount withdrawn from Irish ATMs has fallen by €5.3 billion to €20.4 billion since 2008.
© 2014 - Checkout Magazine by Paul Campbell.
