Rise in credit card usage draws attention

According to data from the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (TCMB), the total amount of debit and credit card transactions rose by 17 percent in the week ending February 2 to reach 240.9 billion TL compared to the previous week.

Despite the tight stance in monetary policy, data from the consumption side indicated that the expected cooling in demand has not become permanent.

Tax and BES (Private Pension System) payments contributed to the upward trend with an increase of 11.6 billion TL.

SEMESTER BREAK SPENDING STANDS OUT

While the data shows that the increases are spread across all spending groups, spending related to the semester break also stood out. The most significant weekly increases were seen in the service sectors, education-stationery, car rental, and fuel spending groups. Among the few sub-groups where spending decreased, electrical-electronics spending stood out.

Separately from these transactions, online credit card purchases increased by 16.2 billion TL weekly, rising to 78 billion TL.