Contactless payments in Ireland edge close to €1bn

Contactless payments in Ireland have almost reached €1bn, and are at a "record-breaking high", according to the newest figures from a banking lobby.

More than 62m payments valued at almost €990m were made in August, figures published by Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) showed. 

The figures also showed that the average number of contactless payments made per day rose to two million, and were valued at almost €32m.

Spending habits have changed dramatically since the outbreak of Covid-19, those figures show, with the almost €32m more than double the value of payments in April.

BPFI chief executive Brian Hayes said that it was evidence that consumers have "undoubtedly increased their use of contactless payments and reduced their dependence on cash" in recent months. 

"The figures show a record-breaking high in terms of monthly contactless spending with contactless payments accounting for half of all card payments in August 2020," Mr Hayes said.

We can also see that consumers are making higher-value contactless payments than before. 

"The average contactless payment value is up from €12.51 in March to €15.93 in August. Some of this can certainly be attributed to the increase in the contactless limit to €50 in response to the Covid-19 crisis."

Mr Hayes said the move to digital payments is further evidenced by Central Bank research, with cash machine withdrawals on the wane.

"This shift from cash to digital payments is further highlighted when we look at recent Central Bank figures which show that the value of ATM withdrawals was 33% lower in August 2020 than a year earlier," he said.

"This once again this underlines the changing pattern in people’s behaviour and the ongoing shift from cash to digital. 

"And while part of this shift is down to necessity and convenience due to the impact of Covid-19, there is no doubt that behaviours are fundamentally changing and that and those who’ve become accustomed to paying by card will continue to do so.”

According to the Central Bank, total card spending including ATM transactions was €6.5bn in August, a marginal increase of 0.4% at €27m, when compared with the same month a year previously. 

When compared with July this year, the total value of card transactions including ATM withdrawals decreased by 1.4%, the Central Bank said.

The total number of ATM transactions was 7.6m in August, up by 3.3m or 77%, since its low point in April, although it remains 39% lower than the number recorded in August last year, it said.