Over €12 billion was spent using mobile wallets such as Apple Pay and Google pay in the 12 months to March, new data shows.
The figures from Banking and Payments Federation Ireland reveal that mobile wallet payments accounted for more than half of the value of all contactless payments made during the period.
€24 billion was spent across all contactless payment methods, including mobile wallets and cards.
The data shows that mobile wallet payments were most common in Dublin and Carlow, and least common in Roscommon and Monaghan.
“Today’s report shows a shift in consumer behaviour towards the use of mobile wallet payments, which have risen steadily to 649 million payments during the 12 months to March 2024,” said Gillian Byrne, Head of Payments, BPFI.
“The average spend of €18.73 per mobile wallet payment was almost 11% higher than the average contactless payment, likely due to the fact that mobile wallets are not subject to the same payment limit as card-based contactless payments,” she added.
Overall in 2023, 4.1 billion payments were made, or 11 million payments per day.
Most of these payments were through cards, mobile and online banking.
Meanwhile, the BPFI data shows that cheque usage last year fell to less than half the volumes seen in 2019.
Just 15 million payments were made with cheques last year.
“This is despite the fact that Ireland remains an outlier in the euro area as one of four countries with significant cheque usage including Cyprus, Malta and France,” Ms Byrne of BPFI said.
The publication of the report comes ahead of an industry briefing being hosted by BPFI today on the digital euro.
Recent research commissioned by BPFI suggests that only 40% of Irish adults are aware of discussions about the possible introduction of a digital euro.
BPFI describes the digital euro as a “universally accessible electronic equivalent of banknotes and coins”, which it said will “complement” cash.
“Although implementation will be some years away, it too is likely to be introduced in the form of a digital wallet and today’s event will explore the opportunities and challenges for consumers and the industry as plans develop,” Ms Byrne said.
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