Visa Inc.

A significant increase has been recorded in residence permits for British and Israeli investors through the Golden Visa program, alongside the "usual suspects" - i.e. buyers from China.

The government hopes its decision to double the minimum amount of property purchase at certain prime locations for a Golden Visa to €500,000 will dampen the excessive rally in prices and will make the market more accessible to more people, especially in areas such as Piraeus (photo).

The first five months of 2023 saw real estate purchases with a total value of 975 million euros coming from investors from third countries interested in obtaining a residence permit through the Golden Visa program.

Third-country property investors aspiring to obtain a Golden Visa made purchases in Greece worth at least 1.57 billion euros between March 2022 and March 2023.

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.

American citizens are increasingly turning to Greece to secure a Golden Visa, thereby turning this country into the third most popular in terms of applications for residence permits by US property investors, according to research by Astons.

The Schengen visa-related problems of Turkish citizens, which has turned into an ordeal recently, are on Oct. 11's agenda of the General Assembly of The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

Payment processor Visa Inc. said late Saturday that it plans to start separately categorizing sales at gun shops, a major win for gun control advocates who say it will help better track suspicious surges of gun sales that could be a prelude to a mass shooting.

Some 14 percent of Turkish consumers use cash for everyday purchases, while 49 percent say they prefer credit cards, according to a survey by IPSOS.

Around 55 percent of those who chose cards say they don't have enough income to make payments in cash, while 32 percent say cards help them postpone payments for a month.

Julie Eadeh, spokeswoman of the U.S. embassy in Ankara has stated that the U.S. is happy to welcome visitors from Türkiye and that she is happy that the number of travelers from Türkiye to U.S. is increasing every day, in a written statement regarding visa requests and appointments.