Credit card spending in Türkiye surges 50 percent in March

ISTANBUL

Credit card spending in Türkiye continued to grow in March, with the total value of card payments rising sharply, according to data released by the Interbank Card Center (BKM).

Last month, the total amount of payments made with credit cards, debit cards and prepaid cards in March increased by 49 percent compared to the same month of last year, reaching 2.61 trillion Turkish Liras ($58.1 billion). Credit cards accounted for the lion’s share of this figure, with transactions totaling 2.22 trillion liras during the month.

Debit card payments amounted to 380.9 billion liras, while prepaid cards were used for payments totaling 8.6 billion liras. On an annual basis, the payment volume rose by 50 percent for credit cards and by 60 percent for debit cards, while prepaid card spending recorded a sharp decline of 76 percent.

As of March, the number of credit cards rose to 146.2 million, up 11 percent year-on-year.

Online shopping also maintained its upward trend. The value of card-based payments made over the internet increased by 53 percent year-on-year in March, reaching 791.4 billion liras. Online transactions accounted for 31 percent of total card payments during the month.