Value and number of payments made through Irish accounts grow

The data from the Central Bank of Ireland shows domestic payment transactions accounted for 66.7% of the total volume of transactions between January and June, worth a combined €2.3tn. File photo

Payments made through Irish accounts increased by nearly 7% between January and June bringing the total value of all those transactions to €6tn, new data from the Central Bank of Ireland shows.

In total, there were 2.4 billion payment transactions reported by Irish payment service providers during the first half of the year — up by 9.2% compared to the same period in 2024 — with the total value of those transactions hitting €6tn.

Domestic payment transactions accounted for 66.7% of the total volume of transactions during this period worth a combined €2.3tn. 

Cross-border payments to countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA) make up a smaller share of transfers, around 236.1 million but had an average value worth a combined €2.1tn. Cross-border payments to ‘Other EEA’ countries totalled 500 million in volume and €1.6tn in value.

Credit transfers made up 95.6%, or €5.7tn, of the total payment transactions value during the six-month period. Compared to the first half of 2024, both value and volume displayed strong annual growth, increasing by 6.4% and 12% respectively.

Direct debits made up the next largest proportion of the total transaction value between January and June, accounting for 1.9% or €111.8bn. The value decreased by €2.9bn compared to the second half of 2024 but this is consistent with seasonal trends as direct debits are typically used for recurring payments such as utility bills and subscriptions.

Card payments accounted for €87bn worth of spending while e-money payments and cheques collectively accounted for 1.1% of total value at €43.5bn and €23bn respectively. Card payments dominated in the volume of transactions constituting 1.6 billion of the overall total volume, followed by credit transfers at 500 million.

Within total electronic card payments, online payments show a steady increase and constituted 61% at the end of June this year.

In the first half of 2025, value and volume of cheques sent declined by 10.8% to €23bn and 11.3% to 5.8% compared to the second half of 2024.

E-money transactions saw a notable 10.1% drop in the value of payments, dropping from €48.4bn in the latter half of 2024 to €43.5bn in the first half of 2025. The decrease is mainly attributed to the drop in cross border e-money payments made to other EEA countries.