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Credit card usage fell in February

06/03/2015 06:57
The use of credit cards in the domestic market in February 2015 was reduced, according to new figures of the JCC.

The value of credit card transactions by Cypriots in the domestic market fell by 6% to €164.7 mn while the number of transactions increased by 1% to 2.6 mn. In January there was a decline in the use of credit cards of 6%.

According to JCC, an increase was registered in supermarkets while Government services, petrol and house appliances recorded a decrease.

As JCC notes, the decrease in Government was affected by the Road Tax Department because of the different deadlines compared to last year. JCC expects that in the next month there will be an increase in this category.

The overall monthly usage without the Government sector fell by 1%.

In the first two months of 2015 the use of credit cards by Cypriots fell by 6% to €370,4 mn.

Purchases abroad

JCC data show that the use of credit cards by Cypriots abroad, including online shopping, remained stable for the second consecutive month at € 86,8 mn. The number of transactions fell by 1% to 849.5 thousand.

In the first two months of 2015 the use of cards by Cypriots abroad remained stable at €183,4 mn.

As for the non-Cypriots, the value of transactions increased in the second month of the year by 14%, reaching €28,9 mn. In January, the increase reached 16%.

An increase of 24% was recorded in the number of transactions which reached 330.4 thousand.

In the January-February 2015 period, credit card transactions of non-Cypriots increased by 15% reaching €59,7mn.