By A. Doga
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Electronic transactions in Greece have skyrocketed since the imposition of capital controls in late June 2015, with contact-less transactions recording the most impressive increase.
Over the 2014 to 2016 period, transactions via POS terminals increased by a whopping 136 percent; debit card use was up by a stratospheric 391 percent.
Debit cards, in fact, appear to be steadily gaining in consumers’ trust, according to results of a recent study by Focus Bari, commissioned by Mastercard.
The study shows that 81 percent of bank cards issued in Greece – a total of 14.6 million — are debit. Of those, 1.3 million were issued over the last year, in the wake of the imposition of capital controls following a controversial referendum over a convoluted “yes or no” question on creditors’ terms at the time.
