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E-commerce now accounts for 30pc of debit card point of sale transactions and almost one in two credit card purchases, according to the latest data from the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI).

Overall debit card point of sale transactions in Ireland were worth €2.9bn in June 2017, 16pc higher than the same month in 2016, while credit card point of sale spending was 5pc higher than in the same period in 2016.

In addition the research has found that debit card point of sale spending exceeded the value of credit card spending by a margin of 3 to 1 in June.

There were increases across all categories of spending during the 12 months to 30 June, but services and social spending had the highest increases over the year, at 20pc and 23pc respectively.

Within services, spending on professional services has increased by 27pc in the 12 months to 30 June.
While within social, a similar trend is evident for restaurants/dining, which recorded a 28pc increase over the 12 months, as the economy continues to recover.

Just over 73pc of all personal credit card expenditure in June 2017 was split between the retail (38pc) and services (35pc) sectors.
In comparison, debit card expenditure in the retail and services sectors accounted for 49pc and 22pc of all new debit card point of sale transactions, respectively.

At the end of June there was over €1.1bn in outstanding credit card balances owing (including an accrued interest component), with 7pc of cards having exceeded their credit limit. One in three credit cards had balances between 76pc and 100pc of their credit limit.
The outstanding balances represent a 3pc and 1pc respective decrease in these categories from the amounts recorded when the series began in January 2015.

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