Payments statistics: second half of 2023

25 July 2024

The European Central Bank (ECB) today published statistics on non-cash payments for the second half of 2023.^[2] The statistics comprise indicators on access to and use of payment services, payment cards and terminals by the public, as well as volumes and values of transactions processed through retail and large-value payment systems. This press release focuses on developments in the euro area as a whole, although statistics are also published for all euro area countries as well as non-euro area reporting countries. EU and euro area aggregates are also published.^[3]

Payment services^[4]

In the second half of 2023 the total number of non-cash payment transactions^[5] in the euro area increased by 6.6% to 71.2 billion compared with the second half of 2022, while the corresponding total value declined by 7.2% to €111.4 trillion. Card payments accounted for 56% of the total number of transactions, while credit transfers accounted for 21%, direct debits for 15% and e-money payments for 6%. The remaining 2% comprised cheques, money remittances and other payment services (see annex, Table 1).

Data on payment services

Card payments

In the second half of 2023 the number of card payments within the euro area increased by 10.3% to 39.6 billion compared with the second half of 2022. The corresponding total value of card payments rose by 7.3% to €1.6 trillion, reflecting an average value of around €40 per transaction. The split between the share of remote and non-remote^[6] transactions in the total number of card payments was 17% to 83%, while the split in terms of value was 26% to 74%. The number of contactless card payments initiated at a physical electronic funds transfer point of sale terminal increased by 16% to 23.2 billion compared with the second half of 2022, with the corresponding total value rising by 17.5% to €0.6 trillion. As a result, their share in the total number of non-remote card payments accounted for 70.6%, while the corresponding share in terms of value was 52.3%. At the national level, Lithuania continued to have the largest share of card payments as a percentage of the total number of non-cash payments in the second half of 2023, at around 78% (see annex, Table 2).

Credit transfers^[7]

In the second half of 2023 the number of credit transfers within the euro area increased by 6.7% to 15.2 billion compared with the second half of 2022, while the corresponding total value declined by 8.1% to €103.3 trillion. As higher-value payments are usually made by credit transfer^[8], they made up 93% of the total value of non-cash payments. The ratio of transactions initiated electronically to those initiated using paper forms was around 15 to 1, while in terms of value the ratio was around 10 to 1. At the national level, Estonia had the largest share of credit transfers as a percentage of the total number of non-cash payments in the second half of 2023, at around 35% (see annex, Table 2).

Direct debits

In the second half of 2023 the number of direct debits within the euro area declined by 3.5% to 10.8 billion compared with the second half of 2022, and the corresponding total value rose by 11.6% to €5 trillion. Of the total number of direct debits, those with an electronic mandate accounted for 12% whereas those with consent given in other forms accounted for 88%, while in terms of value the split was 15% to 85%. At the national level, Germany continued to have the largest share of direct debits as a percentage of the total number of non-cash payments in the second half of 2023, at around 33% (see annex, Table 2).

E-money payments

In the second half of 2023 the number of e-money payment transactions within the euro area increased by 4.9% to 4.5 billion compared with the second half of 2022, and the corresponding value rose by 6.9% to €0.3 trillion. Of the total number of e-money payment transactions, those made with cards on which e-money can be stored accounted for 9% whereas those made with e-money accounts accounted for 91%, while in terms of value the split was 12% to 88%.

Cards and accepting devices

At the end of the second half of 2023 the number of cards with a payment function^[9] had increased by 6.9% to 703.1 million compared with the number at the end of the second half of 2022. With a total euro area population of around 351 million, this averaged two payment cards per euro area inhabitant.

At the end of the second half of 2023 the total number of automated teller machines (ATMs) in the euro area had decreased by 0.4% to 265,624 compared with the number at the end of the second half of 2022. Of these, 29% accepted contactless transactions.

At the end of the second half of 2023 the total number of point of sale (POS) terminals had increased by 13.1% to 19.5 million^[10] compared with the corresponding number at the end of the second half of 2022. Of these terminals, 89% accepted contactless transactions.

Payment systems^[11]

Retail payment systems

Retail payment systems located in the euro area handle mainly payments that are made by individuals and businesses, with a relatively low value and high volume overall.

In the second half of 2023, 34 retail payment systems within the euro area processed around 51.8 billion transactions with a combined value of €25 trillion. Instant credit transfers accounted for 14% of the total number and for 4% of the total value of credit transfer transactions.

Retail payment systems located in the euro area differ significantly in terms of type, size and geographical scope of transactions they process. The three largest systems (MCMS^[12], STEP2-T^[13] and CORE in France) processed 64% of the volume and 62% of the value of all transactions processed by the retail payment systems located in the euro area in the second half of 2023.

Data on retail payment systems

Large-value payment systems

Large-value payment systems are designed primarily to process large-value and/or high-priority payments made between system participants for their own account or on behalf of their customers. 

In the second half of 2023, large-value payment systems located in the euro area settled 92.7 million payments with a total value of €286 trillion in euro payments, with T2 and EURO1/STEP1 being the two main systems.^[14]

Data on large-value payment systems

Notes:

• The full set of payment statistics can be downloaded from the ECB Data Portal (EDP). The EDP also includes interactive dashboards supporting data visualization. Detailed methodological information, including a list of all data definitions, is available under “Payment services and large-value and retail payment systems” in the "Statistics" section of the ECB's website.
• The methodological and reporting framework for payments statistics was enhanced to take progressive developments in the payments market and related changes in the legal framework in Europe into account. The enhanced reporting requirements, which came into effect on 1 January 2022, are set out in Regulation ECB/2020/59 amending Regulation ECB/2013/43 on payments statistics and in Guideline ECB/2021/13 on reporting requirements on payments statistics. In addition, the Manual on payments statistics reporting is available on the ECB’s website.
• Hyperlinks in the main body of the press release and in annex tables lead to data that may change with subsequent releases as a result of revisions. Figures shown in annex tables are a snapshot of the data at the time of the current release. Unless otherwise indicated, statistics referring to the euro area cover the EU Member States that had adopted the euro at the time to which the data relate.