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Card payments up in 2022

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Dutch consumers and businesses made around 6.1 billion payments using a debit or credit card in 2022, representing a combined amount of €182 billion, new figures from DNB on payment transactions show. As the Dutch economy reopened post-COVID-19 in 2022, factors that drove the rise in card payments included foreign holidays and the hospitality industry.

Published: 01 May 2023

In 2021, Dutch people made 4.9 billion card payments for a combined amount of €144 billion. These were payments by Dutch cardholders at points of sale both in the Netherlands and abroad, including contactless payments and payments made with smartphones and wearables and in webshops.

Source: DNB statistics

At De Nederlandsche Bank, we independently compile statistics on the Dutch financial sector and economy. This article is based on these statistics. More information on our statistics and all dashboards can be found on our Statistics homepage.

New reporting method for payments

With effect from 1 January 2022, in common with all other central banks in Europe and under the auspices of the European Central Bank, we collect more and better data on payment transactions to better monitor the rapid developments in this area. Compared to previous years, more payment service providers are now required to provide data to us. In addition, we have expanded the survey. Statistics are compiled on a quarterly basis.

Additionally, in April 2023, we published the factsheet Point of sale payments in 2022, based on research we conducted in tandem with the Dutch Payments Association. This looks specifically at point-of-sale purchases in the Netherlands and excludes, for example, online card payments, such as those made by credit card.

Reopening of the economy clearly visible

The COVID-19 measures were dropped in the first quarter of 2022, leading to a surge in card payments in the rest of the year, especially at points of sale.

In the first quarter of 2022, the Dutch made 1.3 billion card payments. Over the rest of the year, this rose to an average of 1.6 billion per quarter. A total of 6.1 billion card payments were made in 2022, of which 5.5 billion were made in the Netherlands and 0.6 billion abroad.

Also, the amount paid by card went up from €38 billion in the first quarter of 2022 to an average of €48 billion in the last three quarters of the year. A total of €182 billion in card payments were made in 2022, of which €153 billion were made in the Netherlands and €29 billion abroad.

The number of card payments is expected to increase further in 2023, due in part to the introduction of “OVpay”, which allows public transport travellers to use a debit or credit card to check in and out on public transport.

More information

Table 5.12 Payment transactions

One of the objectives specified in the 2023-2025 multi-annual programme of our Statistics Division is to provide better insight into information on payment transactions.

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