Financial cards and payments in 2024: The big picture
In the context of a stable and growing economy (after various crises), card payments continued to grow in Greece in 2024, driven by debit cards which are, by far, the dominant card type. Greece, a traditionally cash-oriented economy, has been quick to adopt card payments over recent years, a trend accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the momentum of e-commerce and digital wallets, as well as government measures that provide tax incentives for consumers who use cards, and laws dictating the mandatory presence of point of sale (POS) terminals for the acceptance of card payments to nearly all business sectors.
2024 key trends
Growth in digital wallets continues. It is estimated that the penetration of digital wallets in the total turnover of cards rose from 10% in 2023 to 15% in 2024.
BNPL services continue to grow
While still low in actual terms, Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) payments are quickly gaining ground in Greece. Introduced in 2022 by Klarna and TBI Bank, BNPL payments quickly appealed to a part of the consumer base which was either unable or unwilling to use credit cards – be it younger people with no access to cards, or people with an aversion to credit card debt, a group that rose in numbers following the negative experiences of the Greek economic crisis of 2010s.
Competitive landscape
Greece’s four major, systemic banks, namely Piraeus Bank SA, National Bank of Greece SA, Alpha Bank SA, and EFG Eurobank Ergasias SA, continue to dominate financial card payments. The four main players continue to lead across all major categories and are all focusing on the integration of digital wallets, relying on the leading Google Pay and Apple Pay wallets (and, to a substantially smaller extent, Garmin Pay), and launching their own schemes.
What next for financial cards and payments?
Card payments in Greece are expected to display healthy growth over the forecast period, driven by debit cards. Greece now expects a stable and positive economic outlook moving forward, which hints to rising consumer expenditure, along with government measures for the acceptance of card payments across the whole of retail/services spectrum, and for the benefits, regular or ad-hoc via pre-paid cards, providing the context for growth.
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Overview:
Understand the latest market trends and future growth opportunities for the Financial Cards and Payments industry in Greece with research from Euromonitor International's team of in-country analysts – experts by industry and geographic specialisation.
Key trends are clearly and succinctly summarised alongside the most current research data available. Understand and assess competitive threats and plan corporate strategy with our qualitative analysis, insight and confident growth projections.
If you're in the Financial Cards and Payments industry in Greece, our research will help you to make informed, intelligent decisions; to recognise and profit from opportunity, or to offer resilience amidst market uncertainty.
The Financial Cards and Payments in Greece report includes:
- Analysis of key supply-side and demand trends
- Detailed segmentation of international and local products
- Historic volume and value sizes, company and brand market shares
- Five year forecasts of market trends and market growth
- Robust and transparent research methodology, conducted in-country
This report answers:
- What is the market size of Financial Cards and Payments in Greece?
- What are the major trends key to understanding Financial Cards and Payments in Greece?
- How has COVID-19, recession and macroeconomic volatility impacted the market?
- How long will the market take to recover? What are the opportunities now?
- How will political context and shifting cultural values shape future growth?
- Where is future growth expected to be most dynamic?
Financial Cards and Payments in Greece - Industry Overview
Financial cards and payments in 2024: The big picture
2024 key trends
BNPL services continue to grow
Competitive landscape
What next for financial cards and payments?
DISCLAIMER
Charge Cards in Greece - Category analysis
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Personal charge cards: End of an era
Commercial charge cards growing along the Greek economy
Alpha Bank and Visa lead the remaining category of commercial charge cards
Stabilisation and slow economic growth to be mirrored in performance of commercial charge cards
Travelling and dining to remain main areas for commercial charge cards
No return in sight for personal charge cards
Credit Cards in Greece - Category analysis
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Stability and start of economic growth translate into growth for credit cards
Competition arises with expanding BNPL services
Economic growth signals rise for commercial credit cards – a stable competitive landscape
Steady, small growth for credit cards anticipated
Competition with BNPL services set to intensify
Commercial credit cards to grow along with economic developments, but face competition from other commercial cards
Debit Cards in Greece - Category analysis
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Debit cards continue to grow at the expense of cash
In a stable competitive landscape, dynamic growth of digital wallets creates some space for newcomers
Commercial debit cards also benefit from the country’s new stability
Further growth for debit cards anticipated
The rising relevance of fintechs
New payment tools in an increasingly complex competitive landscape
Pre-Paid Cards in Greece - Category analysis
KEY DATA FINDINGS
E-commerce and digitalisation further boost pre-paid cards
Government benefits remain key in the pre-paid card business
Ongoing positive growth for closed-loop pre-paid cards
Government benefit cards to keep fuelling growth for open-loop pre-paid cards
Virtual cards to keep developing amid ongoing rise of e-commerce and digital wallets
Further growth for closed-loop pre-paid cards
The following categories and subcategories are included:
Financial Cards and Payments
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- ATM Cards
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- Commercial Charge Cards
- Personal Charge Cards
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- Commercial Credit Cards
- Personal Credit Cards
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- Commercial Debit Cards
- Personal Debit Cards
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- Closed Loop Pre-Paid Cards
- Open Loop Pre-Paid Cards
- Store Cards
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- ATM Transactions
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- Commercial Charge Card Transactions
- Personal Charge Card Transactions
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- Commercial Credit Card Transactions
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- Average Personal Credit Card Balance
- Average Personal Credit Card Limit
- Personal Credit Card Utilisation
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- Commercial Debit Card Transactions
- Personal Debit Card Transactions
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- Closed Loop Pre-Paid Card Transactions
- Open Loop Pre-Paid Card Transactions
- Store Card Transactions
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- Commercial Card Payment Transactions
- Commercial Electronic Direct/ACH Transactions
- Commercial Paper Payment Transactions
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- Personal Card Payment Transactions
- Personal Electronic Direct/ACH Transactions
- Personal Paper Payment Transactions
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- Commercial Electronic Direct/ACH Transactions
- Personal Electronic Direct/ACH Transactions
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- Commercial Cash Transactions
- Commercial Other Paper Transactions
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- Personal Cash Transactions
- Personal Other Paper Transactions
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- Mobile Proximity Payments
- Mobile Remote Payments
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Financial Cards and Payments
Payments are tracked based on the country of residence / account issuance and include outbound spend while excluding inbound spend.
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This report originates from Passport, our Financial Cards and Payments research and analysis database.
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