Inflation drives up credit card usage: 1 trillion 56 billion TL

The rapid rise in individual debt in Turkey, particularly credit card debt, has reached worrying levels. As the cost of living increases due to the impact of inflation, citizens have been forced to turn to credit cards to meet their basic needs. According to the latest data, the amount of payments made with credit cards has increased much faster than the number of transactions. While the annual increase in the amount of payments made with credit cards in June was 105 percent, the increase in the number of transactions lagged far behind at 21 percent.

1 TRILLION TL OF PAYMENTS MADE VIA CREDIT CARDS

According to a report in Sözcü based on Interbank Card Center (BKM) data, 1 trillion 56.8 billion TL of card payments were made with credit cards, with the growth rate in payments made with credit cards reaching 105 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. While 887.8 million of the card payments were made with credit cards, the growth rate in the number of payments made with credit cards was 21 percent compared to the same period last year.

As of the end of June, the difference in growth between the total number of card transactions and the amounts has also reached remarkable levels. According to BKM data, the total amount of payments made in June with credit cards, debit cards, and prepaid cards increased by 98 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching 1 trillion 267.6 billion TL. However, the number of card payment transactions did not increase at the same rate. The total number of payments made in June with credit cards, debit cards, and prepaid cards increased by 17 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching 1.5 billion. It was observed that citizens are making their large payments with credit cards.

News Source: 12punto