Debit card

Card transactions increased some 40 percent in the first quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2017.

As the government seeks to promote the electronic ticket to both Greeks and tourists alike, a watchdog has underlined the difficulties of navigating the capital's public transportation system.

Tasos Makris, an IT consultant and a member of the Usability Observatory, says that actually acquiring a ticket is one of the biggest challenges of the new electronic system.

A study by one of the major credit and debit card companies shows that Japan has been the most visited country in the past two years. For the first time the country of the rising sun displaces the United States of America.

The use of debit and credit cards over the festive season rose to record levels, illustrating the growing prevalence of online transactions in everyday life - as well as the fragility of the system, which suffered significant glitches.

Nearly 26% of Bulgarians pay a debit card for their online purchases, which is a growth of 8 percentage points compared to 2016. This is clear from a Visa study presented today.

According to the data, Bulgarian citizens continue to recognize the benefits of electronic payments and to increase their confidence in them.

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.

Corporations and self-employed professionals with credit/debit card terminals (PoS) will have to declare their professional bank account (or accounts) on the Finance Ministry's Taxisnet database.

The Finance Ministry appears set to start conducting cash and prize draws, rewarding 1,000 lucky credit or debit card holders every month.

Electronic payments rose faster in Greece last year than in any other European Union member-state, amounting to 108.8 percent year-on-year, as recorded by the European Central Bank. The trend has continued this year, due in large part to a law linking e-spending with an income tax discount as well as the compulsory installation of card terminals by all tradesmen and professionals.

The total value of online credit card payments in Turkey rose by 46 percent annually to 8.5 billion Turkish Liras (around $2.4 billion) in May, the country's Interbank Card Center (BKM) announced on June 20.        

Online payments accounted for 15 percent of total card payments in May, the BKM noted.