Customers credit card debt increased by 160 percent reaching 1 trillion 245 billion TL compared to the same period last year.

Along with this according to data from the Interbank Card Centre 15 thousand 378 transactions were carried out per minute and 256 transactions were carried out every second.

Turkey is the fastest growing credit card market in Europe. In Turkey, the fastest growing credit card market in Europe, the decrease in the habit of using cash, the continuous improvement of products and services by banks, and the recent increase in inflation, especially in the last 2 years, have increased the volumes significantly.

According to the data of the Interbank Card Centre, the number of transactions made by credit card in the first 7 months of this year increased by nearly 25% compared to the same period of 2022, reaching 4.7 billion.

Oktay Özdabakoğlu from Sabah newspaper stated that, the number of shopping transactions increased by 24% to 4 billion 559 million, while cash withdrawal transactions increased by 31% to 134.7 million.

In the first 7 months of this year, an average of 22 million 144 thousand transactions were made per day by credit card.

While an average of 922 thousand 677 transactions were made per hour, 15 thousand 378 transactions were carried out per minute and 256 transactions were carried out every second.

Credit card usage gained momentum especially after 2020. While a total of 1 trillion 35 billion lira transactions were made in 2022, this figure reached 1 trillion 522 billion lira in 2021 and 3.2 trillion lira in 2022. While the whole of 2022 was exceeded with 3 trillion 474 billion liras in the first 7 months of this year, the figure is expected to reach 5.5-6 trillion liras at the end of the year.

According to weekly data of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, consumers’ credit card debt increased by 160 percent compared to the same period last year, reaching 1 trillion 245 billion TL as of September 1, 2023. Instalment credit card debts increased by 152 percent, reaching 557.1 billion liras, and non-instalment card debts increased by 168 percent, reaching 688.8 billion liras.

According to the data of the Interbank Card Centre, as of July, the number of credit cards in Turkey was 109.8 million, the number of debit cards was 181.1 million and the number of prepaid cards was 81 million. Compared to July 2022, there was an increase of 19 percent in the number of credit cards, 14 percent in the number of debit cards and 24 percent in the number of prepaid cards. The total number of cards reached 371.9 million, increasing by 18 percent compared to the same period last year.

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