Cheque volumes drop to lowest level since the data series began
Nearly €4.8 billion worth of contactless payments were made in Q3 2022 as online and mobile banking payments hit record levels and cheque volumes dropped to an all-time low according to the latest Payments Monitor Q3 2022 from Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI).
With the figures showing the value of contactless payments rose by 25.8% year on year to almost €4.8 billion or €52 million per day, this was the highest contactless spend in any quarter since the data series began in 2016. Quarterly contactless volumes meanwhile rose by 22.8% over the same period to 285.3 million or 3.1 million payments per day.
Online and mobile payments
The Monitor, which also captures data on online and mobile banking payments (digital banking), shows volumes grew by 8.4% year on year in Q3 2022 to 36.1 million, the highest quarterly volume since that data series began in 2016. In contrast cheque payment volumes fell by 7.3% year on year to 4.5 million lowest quarterly level since the data series began in 2008.
Additionally, the report shows that direct debit payments volumes rose by 2.1% year on year to 35.9 million, the highest quarterly volumes since Q4 2019.
Commenting on the latest BPFI report, Gillian Byrne, Head of Payments, BPFI said: “As consumers continued to reduce their reliance on cash and cheques, card payments continued to grow strongly. The contactless share of payment volumes increased from 54% in Q3 2021 to 59% in Q3 2022. Contactless payments accounted for 41% of the value of card payments in stores and other physical points of sale in Q3 2022, up from 36% a year earlier.”
Ms Byrne continued: “Online and mobile banking (digital banking) payment volumes meanwhile grew by 8.4% year on year in Q3 2022 to €36.1 million. This is the highest level recorded since BPFI began collecting this data in 2016. Cheque payments meanwhile dropped to the lowest quarterly level since that data began in 2008, at 4.5 million.”
09/01/2023