Credit card usage in Israel rose sharply in advance of the New Year holiday last week. Data that have reached "Globes" from Shva (the company that operates the credit card payments clearance system in Israel) indicate credit card usage before the holiday was 15.3% higher than in the corresponding period last year.
The total value of credit card transactions in the five days before the holiday was NIS 5.7 billion this year, which compares with NIS 4.9 billion in the corresponding period in 2017. This is a continuation of a general trend of sharply rising credit card use. Three years ago, the figure for credit card transaction in the five days preceding the New Year holiday was NIS 3.7 billion, meaning that usage has shot up by more than 50% within three years.
The increase in credit card transactions is explained by growth in the credit card market and a switch to credit cards from other means of payment, and also by the fact that this year the holiday fell straight after a weekend. Payments market sources say that this year also saw a sharp rise in pre-holiday purchases on the Internet.
The switch to credit card usage from other payment methods has led to a sharp rise in the number of transactions, and at the same time to a decline in average transaction value, as more and more small purchases are being made by credit card. Shva's figures show that the number of transactions in the days before the New Year holiday this year was 22% higher than in the corresponding period last year, but the average transaction value fell by 1.5% from NIS 227 last year to NIS 223 this year.
Shva inaugurated a new computer system this year as part of the switch of the Israeli credit card market to EMV technology, using cards with embedded microchips that store cardholder data.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 17, 2018
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2018