Card Payments Approach 1 Trillion Lira Milestone
The total amount of payments made with credit cards, debit cards, and prepaid cards in December saw a significant increase of 116 percent compared to the same period in the previous year, reaching 978.3 billion TL. The majority of card payments were made with credit cards, totaling 818.2 billion TL, followed by 142.6 billion TL made with debit cards, and 17.5 billion TL made with prepaid cards. The growth rate in payments made by credit card compared to the same period of the previous year was 124 percent, 78 percent for debit card payments, and 128 percent for prepaid card payments.
The data from the Interbank Card Center (BKM) for December reported that the number of credit cards in Turkey was 117.7 million, the number of debit cards was 189.5 million, and the number of prepaid cards was 90.0 million. These figures show an increase of 18 percent in the number of credit cards, 12 percent in the number of debit cards, and 26 percent in the number of prepaid cards compared to the previous year, bringing the total number of cards in circulation to 397.2 million, an increase of 17 percent.
In December, a total of 1.4 billion transactions were made using credit cards, debit cards, and prepaid cards, representing a 22 percent increase compared to the same period the previous year. Of these transactions, 809.8 million were made with credit cards, 525.4 million with debit cards, and 109.9 million with prepaid cards. The growth rate in the number of transactions made with credit cards was 24 percent, 15 percent for debit cards, and 41 percent for prepaid cards.
Furthermore, it was observed that 3 out of every 4 card payments made in-store were contactless, demonstrating the increasing adoption of this payment method. Online card payments also saw a significant increase, reaching 278 billion TL.
Overall, the data from December indicates a significant surge in card payments and transactions, reflecting changing consumer behavior and preferences towards digital payments. These figures also underscore the continued importance and reliance on card-based transactions in the Turkish market.
