Austrians are currently using their debit card more than ever. The number of transactions and transaction volume increased by approximately one-fifth each in the first half of 2022. According to Payment Services Austria GmbH (PSA), every fourth person has already digitized their debit card on their smartphone and also uses it to pay.
“This development reflects the fact that customers appreciate the improvements to the maps and the widespread availability on smartphones,” said PSA President David Ostah. This would be especially good for younger people. In the first half of the year, more than 1.6 million mobile debit cards were used on smartphones and other mobile devices.
Most purchases are paid via NFC
In the first half of the year, a total of 620 million transactions were made, with a transaction volume of more than 28 billion euros. Of these, 569 million transactions and a volume of 20.6 billion euros were purchases from retailers. The majority of purchases (90 percent) were paid contactless with NFC.
At home and abroad ATMs, approximately 51 million withdrawals were made with domestic cards, with 7.4 billion euros being withdrawn. In addition, PSA has conducted 46 million transactions with age questions, so-called “Identity Services transactions”. In the future, the field will be expanded with an electronic identity (eID), the ich.app. This should provide a unified authentication solution for online trading and replace the many passwords that have been used to date.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
