ONLINE AND MOBILE banking hit record highs in the second quarter of the year while contactless payments continue to surge, according to a new report.

The latest figures from the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) show that online and mobile banking payments grew by 11.7% to 36 million payments in the second quarter of the year, the highest level since the data series began six years ago. 

The report also shows that there were €49 million worth of contactless payments per day in the second quarter of the year, the highest daily spend in any quarter since the current series of records began.

The average contactless payment value increased from €15.96 a year to €16.61 a year.

There were 93.7 million transactions in May of this year, a new record for monthly contactless volumes. A new record for daily contactless volumes was set in June, with 3.04 million payments per day.

Digital banking transfer volumes grew by 11.7% year-on-year to 36 million payments in Q2 2022. This was the highest level recorded since the data series began in 2016.

It’s the first time that digital banking payments outnumbered direct debit payments, which stood at 34.9 million.

Meanwhile, the use of cheques continues to decline, as the payment method fell by 2.6% to 4.8 million, about half the volume when compared to the same period in 2018.

BPFI head of payments Gillian Byrne said: “Combining Central Bank of Ireland and BPFI figures, it has become clear that contactless is increasing its penetration of card payments.

“Some 57.3% of card payment volumes were contactless in Q2 2022, the highest proportion on record and up from 51.3% a year earlier,” she said.

“Similarly, some 39.2% of the value of payments at physical points of sale were contactless, up from 35.4% in Q2 2021.”