Amsterdam, 14 June 2007. The number of PIN (debit card) transactions has never been so high in a 12-month period. The number of debit card transactions reached a record high of over 1.5 billion (1,504,955,216) between June 2006 and May 2007 as shown by figures from Currence, the owner of the PIN, Chipknip, Acceptgiro, Incasso/Machtigen and iDEAL products. The milestone of one billion debit card transactions in 12 months was reached five years ago.

In recent years, consumers have made increasing use of debit cards for payments. Over 30% of all purchases in shops are now by debit card. Research by Currence shows that consumers mainly use their debit cards for payments over twenty euros. But the number of debit card transactions below twenty euros has grown in recent years, especially in supermarkets, department stores and non-food shops.

Consumers often still pay smaller amounts in cash. A significant reason for this is that, in some shops, customers have to pay extra when paying a smaller amount by debit card. More and more shops (especially large ones) now accept debit cards for any amount, even for very small purchases.
Currence recently started its new debit card promotional campaign and so it is expected that customers will make more use of their debit cards.