Hotels and tourism activities (102%), restaurants (71%) and perfumeries (45%) have the highest growth in card payment billing in Portugal. A total of 33% was added to company sales, mainly supported in those sectors – the ones most affected by the pandemic. And the recovery of tourists is clearly visible: the transactions of foreigners in the country shot up by 101% in 2022. Among the Portuguese, the increase was 23%, without the expected cooling in the autumn. It’s like contactless already represents an impressive 75% of payments made.
The numbers are revealed in the Reduniq report, larger acquirer national and Unicre brand that analyzes the evolution of card payments in the country. And they not only clarify the effect of tourism on the sharply rising consumption, but also who our most important visitors are. The list of those who spent the most in Portugal is led by the French (14% of total foreign sales), closely followed by the British (13%) and with the North Americans in third place (10 % of payments with cards from the United States). Ireland (9%) and Spain (7%) round out the top 5, with the blatant omission of Germans among the largest, justifying the company with the impact of the energy crisis.
The summer and Christmas were of course the periods with the greatest growth in turnover (30% more and 25% more respectively), with average expenditure slightly above the previous year due to inflation: 231 euros compared to 207 in 2021. The highest average was also seen in tourism value per purchase determined: 144 euros, reveals Reduniq Insights.
The brutal growth of the contactless, with three out of four transactions using this technology. “If we take into account that it represented 16% in 2019, we can conclude that digital means of payment are not only here to stay, but will continue to grow,” understands Tiago Oom, head of marketing from Unicre and official spokesperson for Insights, noting “the change in the consumption profile of the Portuguese, driven by the constraints of the pandemic and in line with the return to normality”, in which money is being replaced by digital/cards.
After an extraordinary year, Tiago Oom expects a slowdown in 2023, mainly motivated “by the impact of inflation and the rise in interest rates, such as the slowdown in the pace of economic growth observed in the second half of 2022”.
Source: DN
