Debit cards

Month after month the use of credit and debit cards in everyday transactions is setting a new record, as taxpayers become increasingly accustomed to using plastic money.

The value of card transactions in Greece in the first four months of the year totaled 5.5 billion euros, posting an annual 22 percent annual increase according to estimates by Cardlink presented at the Digital Finance Forum last week.

This came after a year when 320 million transactions carried out using credit and debit cards added up to some 19 billion euros.

A Focus Bari survey conducted for Mastercard found that card transactions soared by 50 percent in January, the first full month since the implementation of a law that only allows taxpayers who pay for their purchases with plastic to qualify for an income tax discount.

Kathimerini understands that the Finance Ministry's planned lotteries - intended as an incentive to encourage consumers to use credit and debit cards for their everyday transactions - will include a new car for one lucky shopper each month.

There will be thousands of other prizes up to 50 euros each, most of which will comprise free credit.

Taxpayers who use their credit and debit cards for transactions will have to wait until March for the Finance Ministry to issue its decision on the various state lotteries and prize draws. Deputy Minister Katerina Papanatsiou noted however that although the decision will not be released until the end of March, the draws will include card transactions conducted since January 1.

Demand for credit and debit card terminals doubled in the first few days of 2017, as the government's plans to consider only electronic payments toward attaining a tax discount has forced Greeks to start using cards more instead of cash.

The payment of utility bills using credit or debit cards will also count toward the tax discount for electronic transactions, according to sources, as the state appears unable to distinguish such payments from spending on goods and other services.

Banks are proposing that the government take a series of measures to combat tax evasion, which are centered around reducing the use of cash in favor of increasing online transactions. The proposal that stands out concerns the taxing of cash withdrawals.

The government's plan for a long-awaited bill on incentives to encourage Greeks to use credit or debit cards includes an additional tax-free amount for taxpayers who use them for more than 80 percent of their annual expenditure, tax discounts for medical expenses paid by card, and new limits for electronic transactions between corporations.

Turkey is introducing a new electronic card payment clearing system called TROY, the InterBank Card Center (BKM) announced on April 28.        

"We are ready. Since April 1, TROY has been available at all swiping machines and ATMs," Soner Canko, chairman of the card center, told a press conference.