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BPFI Payments Monitor – Contactless Update September 2021

Digital banking and contactless payments continue to grow strongly as Covid restrictions ease and business activity increases

  • Online/mobile banking grew by 8.6% year on year to 33.3 million in Q3 2021, the highest level recorded since the data series began in 2016.
  • Contactless payments reached new heights in Q3 2021 at almost 234 million payments worth nearly €3.8 billion

Thursday 11th November 2021 – Online and mobile banking payments continued to grow strongly in Q3 2021 as Covid-19 restrictions eased and business activity increased according to the latest Payments Monitor from Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI). The report also shows that contactless payments reached new heights in the third quarter of this year at almost 234 million payments worth nearly €3.8 billion.

Outlining the latest figures Brian Hayes, Chief Executive, BPFI said: “Our latest Payments Monitor is very clearly highlighting the continued shift away from paper-based payments to digital banking (i.e. online and mobile banking). In the third quarter of this year online and mobile banking payment volumes grew by 8.6% year on year to 32.2 million payments. This was the highest level recorded since BPFI began collecting this data in 2016. Looking at the year =-to-date picture we can see that in the nine months ending September 2021, digital banking payments grew by 11% year on year compared with the same period of 2020, pointing to greater use of electronic remote channels in place of paper-based payments in particular.”

“At the same time cheque payments remained at historically low levels but were broadly unchanged from the first two quarters of the year. In year-on-year terms, cheque volumes were 15.8% down in the year-to-date.”

Contactless

The Monitor, which also captures contactless data, shows the use of contactless payments reached new heights in Q3 2021 at almost 234 million payments worth nearly €3.8 billion. The number and value of payments were 17.2% and 19%, respectively, above the previous highs in Q2 2021.

Looking at the monthly picture for September, contactless payment volumes rose by 25.6% year on year to 75.6 million or 2.5 million payments per day. The value of contactless payments during September rose by 29.1% to more than €1.2 billion or €40.1 million per day. While payments volumes increased in year-on-year terms, they fell to the lowest monthly level since June 2021, likely reflecting the wider seasonal decline in grocery spending as many people took holiday breaks.

Data Series

The BPFI Contactless quarterly report data series since 2016 and contactless monthly for 2020 is available to download here in excel format.

ENDS/

Contact: Jillian Heffernan, Head of Communications, 087 9016880 or jillian.heffernan@bpfi.ie

Notes: Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) represents the banking, payments and fintech sector in Ireland.  Together with its affiliates, the Federation of International Banks in Ireland, and the Fintech & Payments Association of Ireland, BPFI has some 100 member institutions and associates, including licensed domestic and foreign banks and institutions operating in the financial marketplace here.

The BPFI Payments Monitor Contactless Update September 2021 is available for download below in PDF format.

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