European Payment Cards Yearbook

Greece - Summary

Market Overview

  
Payment Organizations DIAS, Hellenic Bankers Association
   
   
   
Market Structure

Cash continues to dominate retail payments, but the last five years have seen expansion in payment card use. Between 2000 and 2008, the number of payment cards increased from 6.6 million to 15.3 million. Numbers of debit and credit cards have risen in roughly the same proportions, but credit cards are used far more than debit cards for POS payments.

NBG, the largest Greek bank, was historically the main MasterCard issuer. Alpha, the largest private bank, was historically the main Visa issuer.

   
Major Issuers National Bank of Greece, Eurobank EFG, Alpha Bank and Piraeus Bank
   
Consumer Finance Consumer credit has risen strongly during recent years, with Greece one of the few eurozone countries with a large credit card market.
   

Key Statistics 2008

  
Population 11.2 million
Cards Debit: 8.2 million
Delayed debit: 64,000
Credit: 7.0 million
Total payment cards: 15.3 million

 

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