Cypriots seem to have overcome their ‘addiction’ to the use of cheques considering that from 17% in 2015 this form of payment fell to 12% in 2017 while in 2016 it stood at 15.3%.
Data in the 2018 annual report of the Association of Cyprus Banks also shows that while cheques are not as commonly used as before, payment of commercial transactions by cards is gaining ground. In 2015, the use of cards of all types stood at 51.20%, rising to 53.20% in 2016 and to 57.50% in 2017.
As far as direct debits are concerned, these accounted for 9.1% of total payments in 2017 while credit transfers stood at 18.1%. In 2015, these figures were 10.40% and 18.60%, respectively. In 2016, direct debits accounted for 9.60% and credit transfers stood at 18.80%.
Based on European Central Bank data, Cyprus ranked second among the 27 EU Member States in payments by cheques which accounted for 12% back in 2017. Malta was the leader in payments by cheques with 17.3%.
France ranked third with 8.8%, Italy with 2.8% was fourth and Ireland with 2.2% was at the fifth place. Portugal followed with 2.2%, England with 1.4%, Spain with 0.8% and Greece with 0.6%.
On the other hand, only 0.2% of all payments were made by cheques in Romania while the Belgians and Germans also seem to snub them. In fact, only 0.1% of consumers in both these countries use cheques for their transactions.
Read more:
https://in-cyprus.com/bounced-cheques-at-e135000-in-july/
