Strong pick-up in consumer spending spurred by loosening of Covid-19 restrictions encourages €1.2bn worth of contactless spending in June.
More than 2.4m contactless payments were made per day in June, according to the latest figures from Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI).
This is the highest daily level since BPFI’s contactless data series began in 2016.
“The increase we have seen in contactless spending during the course of June reflects the easing of Covid-related restrictions on many businesses, including hospitality, during this period and is a trend we expect to continue in the months ahead”
According to the BPFI figures, a total of 73m contactless payments were made over the course of June amounting to a total spend of €1.2bn in the month.
Quarterly volume of payments
“In volume terms the figures represent a jump of 37pc year on year while we saw in increase of 43pc in the value of contactless when compared to the same period last year,” said Brian Hayes, chief executive of BPFI.
“Looking at the figures on a quarterly basis, we can see the number of contactless payments increased by 62pc year on year to €199m in Q2 2021 with the value rising by 68pc to almost €3.2 billion.
“This is the highest quarterly volume and value since BPFI started collecting this data in 2016.
“In fact the value of contactless payments more than trebled over a three-year period, with less than €1.1bn in payments in Q2 2018.”
“The increase we have seen in contactless spending during the course of June reflects the easing of Covid-related restrictions on many businesses, including hospitality, during this period and is a trend we expect to continue in the months ahead,” Hayes predicted.
