Rise in card transactions slows as SMEs prefer cash

While the vast majority of Greek professionals may have installed card terminals for their business transactions, as obliged by law, many refrain from using them, opting instead for cash transactions.

Data from banks show that after two years of explosive growth the rise in plastic money transactions slowed down considerably in the first quarter of the year. The value of credit and debit card transactions increased at an annual rate of 20 percent in the January-March period, against 45 percent in the same period last year and 70 percent in the same quarter in 2016, a few months after Alexis Tsipras's government introduced the capital controls.

Figures also show that the growth rate of card transactions halved to between 40 and 45 percent in the year's first quarter compared to 93 percent in 2017.

This trend has arisen in spite of the compulsory installation of...

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