Only 14 percent use cash for daily purchases

ISTANBUL

Some 14 percent of Turkish consumers use cash for everyday purchases, while 49 percent say they prefer credit cards, according to a survey by IPSOS.

Around 55 percent of those who chose cards say they don’t have enough income to make payments in cash, while 32 percent say cards help them postpone payments for a month.

Some 36 percent of participants say using credit cards is a “habit” for them.

While 46 percent of cardholders pay all the outstanding standing balance, 29 percent make the minimum or less than the minimum payment, the survey found.

More than 70 percent of credit card users said they pay for their transactions in installments.

Seven in 10 people in Türkiye have credit cards, according to the survey.

Payments with credit cards increased 103 percent to 249 billion Turkish Liras in July, showed latest data from the Interbank Card Center (BKM).

The number of credit cards increased by 15 percent on an annual basis to 92.1 million as of July.

The volume of transactions with cards - including purchases and cash withdrawals - amounted to 1.5 trillion liras between January and July. In the whole of 2021, those transactions stood at 1.52 trillion liras.

There were a total of 316.1 million credit cards, debit cards and prepaid cards in Türkiye as of the end of July, up from 273.8 million cards a year ago.

Payments with credit, prepaid and debit cards increased by 109 percent in July on an annual basis to amount to 316.9 billion liras.

Debit cards made up 62.3 billion liras of the total sum, rising 132 percent from a year ago.