E-payments posted 23% rise last year
The value of transactions completed electronically, through the internet and mobile banking, increased 23.2% in 2021 from the year before, reaching 390.3 billion euros from €316.7 billion in 2020.
If one adds to that the value of transactions carried out using cards issued by Greek banks (therefore not including payments by tourists), e-payments in 2021 amounted to €431.7 billion.
The swing of consumers to online transactions was accelerated due to the pandemic, raising the number of internet and mobile banking users to 4 million and 4.4 million respectively, against 2.9 million and 1.7 million in 2019 – i.e. before the outbreak of Covid-19. That trend highlights the definitive change in Greeks’ habits, as they have now grown accustomed to online means of payments, while banks have driven their customers out of their branches, with 95% of transactions completed either through the internet or via cash machines.
Kathimerini data show it was mobile banking that saw the biggest increase in 2021, as transactions using smartphones soared 59% in value terms and 45% in transaction figures compared to the year before.
