Filenews 30 January 2026 by Theano Thiopoulou
The ways to pay without the use of cash are nowadays several and accessible to most. But the use of the card remains the most widespread method of cashless payments in EU countries, according to the European Central Bank's new quarterly data for the first half of 2025. According to these data, Cyprus and Portugal hold the lead in the Eurozone in terms of card use for payments.
Portugal had the largest share of card payments as a percentage of the total number of non-cash payments, in the first half of 2025, at 75.7%.
Cyprus comes second, with a marginal difference, at 74.5%, marking an increase of 1.4% compared to the first half of 2024
In third place is Greece with 73% and fourth is Lithuania with 72.8%.
In the other countries, the share of card payments is: Belgium 58%, Germany 45.3%, Estonia 64.2%, Ireland 64%, Spain 67.3%, France 63.9%, Croatia 59.2%, Italy 56.2%, Latvia 60%, Malta 51.9%, Netherlands 48.5%, Austria 57.7%, Slovenia 62.8%, Slovakia 66.7%, Finland 66.1%.
The European Central Bank reports that in the first half of 2025 the number of card payments within the euro area was 44 billion, 9.6% higher compared to the first half of 2024.
The corresponding total value of card payments was €1.7 trillion, 8.7% higher than in the first half of 2024, reflecting an average value of around €38 per payment.
The total number of non-cash payment transactions in the euro area was 77.7 billion, 7.7% higher than in the first half of 2024, with a corresponding total value of €116.0 trillion, 2.9% higher than in the first half of 2024.
Other online payments
Card payments accounted for 57% of the total number of transactions, while credit transfers accounted for 22%, direct debits for 14%, and electronic money payments for 6%. The remaining 1% included checks, money transfers, and other payment services.
The picture of payments by the credit transfer method (the originator instructs their bank to transfer an amount from their account to a beneficiary's account) within the euro area was €16.8 billion, 6.5% higher than in the first half of 2024, and the corresponding total value was €107.3 trillion, 2.6% higher than in the first half of 2024. what in the first half of 2024. As higher-value payments are typically made via credit transfer, they accounted for 92% of the total value of non-cash payments.
Latvia continued to have the largest share of credit transfers as a percentage of the total number of non-cash payments in the first half of 2025, at 36.7%. In Cyprus, the percentage in this category is particularly low, at 16.1%, an increase of 0.3% compared to the first half of 2024. The other countries are: Belgium 31.9%, Germany 23.9%, Estonia 35.8%, Ireland 20.2%, Greece 22.4%, Spain 17.3%, France 18.6%, Croatia 31.4%, Italy 14.9%, Lithuania 22.9%, Malta 8.1%, Netherlands 34.4%, Austria 25.3%, Portugal 11.6%, Slovenia 28.3%, Slovakia 31.3%, Finland 33.7%.
At the national level, Germany continued to have the largest share of direct debits at 30.5%. Direct charges are when the customer authorizes an organization (utility company, telephony) to automatically withdraw money from your bank account for regular payments. In Cyprus the rate was 4% in the first half of 2025 and in Greece 1.2%.
