Credit cards

POS transaction service providers are being forced to cut their fees in an attempt to prevent a legislative intervention from the government.

Taxpayers can now use foreign-issued bank cards to pay their taxes online, the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) has announced.

The AADE said that Visa and Mastercard cards issued by foreign banks can also be used to pay the ENFIA property tax, administrative fees, boat taxes, among others.

The high fees for card transactions whether through POS or e-commerce are an international problem that has mobilized the relevant regulatory authorities.

Economy Minister Kostis Hatzidakis intends to raise the issue of fees for the use of credit or debit cards during his meeting next week with representatives of the two payment-technology corporations MasterCard and Visa, in an attempt to contain the costs of plastic money, especially for product categories with a small profit margin, such as tobacco, newspapers etc.

Retailer organizations have voiced concern that their businesses would be hugely affected if some harsh measures are introduced to curb credit card spending.

The value of transactions with plastic money reached 62 billion euros in 2023, recording an increase of 15% compared to 2022, a rate that is expected to be maintained this year with a marginal slowdown, according to estimates by Mastercard, assessing the positive macroeconomic environment and, in particular, the universal mandatory introduction of point of sale devices (POS) in 35 new professio

Payments made with credit cards, debit cards and prepaid cards stood at 836 billion Turkish Liras ($28.9 billion) in October, rising 122 percent from a year ago, according to the data from the Interbank Card Center (BKM).

Electronic transactions help increase value-added tax revenues and contain the shadow economy, Finance Ministry data from the first quarter of the year show.

The European Commission wants to make online transactions faster and safer by making immediate payments the main option to pay for online items or simply transferring money. The EU's proposed law aims to make quick payments a barrier to the dominance of international systems such as Visa and MasterCard, as well as the entry of large internet companies into the payments sector.

Greek companies engaged in international activities will benefit from a new 200-million-euro trade finance partnership between the European Investment Bank (EIB) and HSBC Bank Plc, it was announced in Athens on Thursday, in the presence of Deputy Minister of Development and Investment Yiannis Tsakiris.