In July, there was an increase in consumer expenditure using credit and debt cards, with a notable surge in travel-related spending due to the summer holiday season. Central Bank data published last Friday reveals that the card expenditure in July was approximately €8.92 billion, illustrating an 8 percent rise from the previous month. The number of transactions also climbed by 6.6 percent. Though most of the spending happened within Ireland, non-domestic payments witnessed a 13 percent boost to €1.72 billion, emphasising the holiday season influence.
The Central Bank implied that the spending surge was concurrent with an increase in the spending of Irish households on airlines and airports throughout the year. The monetary value of spending in both sectors experienced a striking increase between July 2023 and July 2024, with year on year increases of 11.92 percent and 18.77 percent respectively.
The Central Bank enhanced this finding by asserting that this rise is proportional with increments in airport passenger numbers, which surged to a monthly peak of 4.2 million in July, marking a 5.18 percent monthly rise. Additionally, the yearly increase was reported as 2.97 percent when compared to July 2023.
Contactless payments accounted for roughly €2.3 billion of transactions, while payments made using NFC (Near Field Communication) technology — typically via a smartphone or smartwatch — exceeded €1.34 billion. However, cash still remained a widely employed payment method. Domestic cash withdrawals increased by 6.6 percent to €1.1 billion in July relative to the previous month, and the cash withdrawal frequency also increased by 4.4 percent.
When considering the average cash withdrawal per transaction, Longford reported the highest at €161, preceding Roscommon at €159 and Mayo at €158. In contrast, Kilkenny reported the lowest average withdrawal at €123.