| In 2003, the CB bankcard reached two new milestones.
For the first time, the amount of card payments exceeded 200 billion
euros (or 1/4 of household consumption). This 7.3% increase over 2002
is partially attributable to the steady rise in the number of bankcards
in circulation (up 4.9% to 47.6 million). The second historical
milestone: out of a total of 5.6 billion card payments (up 5.2%),
payment transactions (4.34 billion, 1/4 of all card payments
in Europe) have for the first time overtaken the number of payments
by cheque. On average, while the number of payment and withdrawal
transactions per card per year has remained stable, the average amount
for payments (47 euros) and withdrawals (64.70 euros) has
continued to rise. |
| FIGURES FOR THE QUARTER |
| 97,8 |
47 |
24%* |
| the average number of purchases per card
per year. |
euros is the average payment made by a
CB bankcard. |
is the share of CB bankcard payments made
in Europe,
all bank cards combined. |
*Source: European Central
Bank.
Blue Book sept 03. |
|
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