Turks spent $17.4 bln in online shopping
Data released by Turkey's Interbank Card Center (BKM) on February 8 indicated that Turks love online shopping as the number of online credit card transactions increased by 34 percent in 2012 over the previous year, reaching a value of $17.4 billion.
In 2011, the total value of online transactions with credit cards was $12.9 billion. BKM data showed that 19 million out of the existing 54 million credit cards in the country were used for online shopping in 2012. Also, the number of credit cards issued by banks rose by 6 percent during the year, while the number of debit cards issued has increased by 11 percent, totaling 91 million.
Speaking to the Anatolia news agency on Friday, BKM General Manager Soner Canko emphasized that the market experienced a significant increase in the number of payments made online and added, «Out of every TL 100 spent on air travel, TL 93 of this came from online transactions.» He further explained that over 60 businesses are involved in BKM Express, which provides a digital wallet for users, and also announced they plan on implementing the BKM wallet service for smartphones, which will provide a more secure and faster service.
Meanwhile, providing information on overall transactions, data indicated that 29 percent of all credit card payments were recorded as grocery shopping, 12 percent was for clothing transactions and 11 percent was used towards gasoline purchases. Payments made for food took a share of 9 percent among all shopping transactions. The average amount spent per transaction via credit card was under TL 100 ($56).
According to data, Turkey continued its sustainable growth in credit card users in 2012 while the number of point of sale machines, which totals 2.1 million throughout the country, also contributed to this growth by facilitating card use. The total value of shopping by credit card was $186.5 billion, with an increase of 25 percent compared to the previous year. The total figure for debit card shoppers was $8.9 billion, which experienced a rise of 36 percent within the past year. The average value of expenditures by people using both debit and credit cards was $ 69.60.
On average, one in every seven transactions was conducted using a credit card, and 8 percent of all credit card transactions took advantage of installment payments. Installment payments were used most often in clothing and accessories purchases, and the average value of such transactions was $233.
Adapted from Worldbulletin