A Bloomberg report has revealed that nearly one million debit cards were issued by Greek banks following the introduction of capital controls on the 28th of June.
According to the report, Alpha Bank alone issued about 220,000 debit cards in July, which is more than the cards it issued in total in 2014, while the National Bank issued more than 400,000 cards.
Furthermore, Visa Europe commented that the number of active Visa debit cards in Greece more than double in July, compared to previous months. Visa Europe documented a 135% increase in card transactions in the two weeks after the capital controls introduction.
Eurobank’s chief of retail banking Theodoros Kalantonis also revealed that only 6% of payments in 2014 were made via card, which is one of the lowest rates in Europe.
