Card payments set to jump by more than 40 percent in 2017

Payments by credit and debit cards are expected to post an increase of more than 40 percent this year compared to 2016 following the sharp growth trend triggered by the imposition of capital controls almost two-and-a-half years ago.

Bank estimates see consumer spending using cards climbing to 22-23 billion euros by the end of the year, from 15.5 billion in 2016, when the figure had more than doubled from 2015.

The 2017 estimate only concerns payments made using cards issued by Greek lenders, so it does not include card payments made by the millions of tourists who have visited Greece this year, as that would take card turnover to some 27 billion euros.