Digital wallet: What changes during the holidays with digital money

Cash, postal cheques, money transfers from bank branches on working days and hours, when there was a need, have been combined with summer holidays for the older generations. But the last decade was capable of changing everything and definitively in the field of payments and transactions, both during the summer holidays and in general.

“There are very few of them now that use cash for their purchases, even if it is a few soft drinks or even a bottle of water. Most Greeks and visitors from all over the world now use their debit cards. At the same time, payments via mobile phones and in general mobile devices that have integrated the cards, i.e. via digital wallets, are also growing at a rapid pace,” says a manager of a small supermarket from Santorini. “Few stores now do not have a POS. Plastic and digital money dominates,” he adds.

The numbers confirm him as more than 650,000 POS are now almost everywhere in every corner of Greece, up from just 150,000 a few years ago: in airports, ports, railway stations, in the metro, on ships, in taxis and in every type of business of any size from kiosks to supermarket and retail chains. Accompanying the visitor in this way at every step.

At the same time, the total number of active payment cards in circulation in our country at the end of 2021, according to data from the Bank of Greece (BoG), amounted to 19.7 million, increased by 6% compared to 2020. In the individual card categories, the number of debit cards increased by 7% to 16.8 million cards. An increase was recorded for the fifth consecutive year in the issuance of prepaid cards, which reached 1.9 million, up by 13%. The number of credit cards also increased by 2% and reached 2.9 million cards.

The total number of transactions with payment cards amounted to 1,658 million, up from 1,150 million in 2020, showing a significant increase of 44% compared to 2020. Debit cards continued to be the main substitute for cash, with a percentage participation of 92% in the total number of transactions with all types of payment cards. The value of transactions with payment cards amounted to 83 billion euros, increased by 25% compared to the previous year.

“I found myself on the island after twenty years. Everything has changed in the field of payments. I remember in the early 1990s when we come on vacation to Santorini but also to other islands, the concept of plastic money did not exist especially for the young generation who went on vacation “Maybe some older people had, but it was only accepted in a few places,” says a visitor to the island who spent his summers on the Cycladic island for almost three decades when he was young.

However, it is not only the tourist islands that have changed the way of trading, but this happens everywhere, in every city, in every village, where there is some kind of business. “Plastic money is in great demand. Many people even pay with their mobile phones,” says a cafe employee in Thermo.

These are the digital wallets which, according to converging estimates that see the light of day, are used by an increasing number of consumers in our country as well. Digital wallets or simply “wallets” provide the possibility of contactless transactions using a portable device (smartphone or smart watch), replacing the plastic of the physical card.

Today according to data from Alpha Bank regarding the demographics of wallet users, they are being adopted more by the younger age groups, who have a developed relationship with digital technology and smart mobile devices. However, a satisfactory degree of penetration among older consumers (45 years and older), which proves that progress is being made in the wider diffusion of technology and in the digital transition of society, in the direction of a culture of contactless transactions in the country.

It is typical that according to a Juniper Research study that has seen the light of day, about 60% of the world’s population is expected to use digital wallets by 2026 as consumers move away from plastic cards and mature digitally. Between 2022 and 2026 digital wallet users will increase by 53% in number to exceed 5.2 billion people, while in 2022 it is expected to reach 3.4 billion users.

But consumers are starting to use other forms of digital payments, such as among others IRIS Payments promoted by DIAS with direct money transfers between consumers showing an extremely large increase.

So money is becoming plastic and gradually digital, and as the years go by it will be part of the conversations older generations have with younger ones about how transactions were done. However, along with the change in the way of transactions, everything changes during the summer holidays and not only: the way of entertainment, communication, accommodation and even entertainment, with the dominant driver in these changes being the entry of new technologies that generally change the way of life we ​​have known until now.

RES-EMP

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