A staggering €17.9 billion was spent via contactless payments in 2022, the highest ever recorded since 2016 – a monumental 31.4% increase from 2021. Online and mobile banking payments similarly skyrocketed, doubling between 2006 and 2022, as reported by the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI).
Q4 2022 witnessed three million contactless payments daily, with an aggregate worth of €53 million- the highest daily amount in any quarter since 2016.
This was no anomaly either, as the number of contactless payments had more than doubled since 2019 and the value almost tripled.
Gillian Byrne, Head of Payments at BPFI, commented on the figures: “The report shows a clear reliance on contactless payments, with an increase of 27.2% year-on-year to nearly 1.1 billion transactions. Since 2019, contactless payments have more than doubled with the value of transactions almost trebling. Mobile and online banking payments have also risen with a 9.4% annual increase.
To coincide with the publication of the new report, BPFI are hosting their National Payments Conference, opened by EU Commissioner for Financial Services Mairéad McGuinness. Industry experts and policy makers will come together to discuss the figures and the forces that continue to shape the Irish payments landscape. The agenda will also cover the digital euro, Instant Payments, tailored services, financial crime and the latest fraud trends.
