Credit-card use soars in first eight months

The use of credit cards soared between January and August, figures released by JCC on Wednesday showed, while a significant increase was recorded in the eighth month of the year.

During the first eight months of 2019, transactions with local cards in Cyprus recorded an annual increase of 17 per cent rising to €2.62bn, whereas a smaller increase of 8 per cent was recorded in the use of local cards abroad, which stood at €1.24bn.

Transactions with foreign cards in Cyprus also recorded a large annual increase of 15 per cent in the first eight months of the year reaching €1.03bn.

The use of local cards in Cyprus in August rose to €421.8m increasing by 6 per cent compared with the same month last year. The use of local cards abroad increased by 13 per cent annually and valued at €176.2m.

The use of foreign cards in Cyprus in the eighth month of the year rose by 12 per cent on an annual basis reaching €175m.

Transactions with local cards in the north of the island stood at €2.11m in August and at €14m between January and August.

The use of local cards in Turkey amounted to €725.228 in August and to €4m in the first eight months of 2019, while transactions with Turkish cards in Cyprus stood at €1.77m in August and at €11.4m from January to August.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.