In the 1^st quarter of 2020

Aggregate of withdrawals and purchases through automatic payment terminals registered a year-on-year increase of 0.8%, despite the pronounced drop in March

Data provided by the Interbank Services Society (SIBS) for the first quarter of 2020 show that the aggregate of cash withdrawals and purchases through automatic payment terminals (APT) increased by 0.8% compared with the same period of the previous year, whereas in Portugal there was a 1.0% decrease. While the cash withdrawals went down by 4.1%, the purchases through ATP increased by 4.3%. In turn, compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, the amount spent on payments went up by 5.7%.

The growth rates in the three months of the quarter were uneven. While in January in February, the aggregate of cash withdrawals and purchases through ATP increased by 8.1% and 10.8%, respectively, in March this indicator plummeted by 15.3%, due to the strict measures to contain the new coronavirus pandemic, which affected the daily life of residents and had a devastating effect in Tourism.

Breaking down the data concerning withdrawals, the figures show that in the period of reference, international cards were used to withdraw 12.0 million Euros (13.2% y-o-y decrease), while the amount of withdrawals using national cards totalled 143.7 million Euros, a 3.3% decrease when compared with the same period of 2019.

At the country level, national withdrawals decreased by 4.0% and the international withdrawals dropped by 9.0%. The y-o-y average in withdrawals was -4.2%.

Concerning purchases through automatic payment terminals, the year-on-year change rate for the first quarter 2020 was higher in Madeira (+4.3%) than in Portugal (+1.2%). In the Region, the purchases through APT using international cards increased by 2.0% while those made using national cards rose by 4.8%.

In the month of March and compared to the same month a year before the cash withdrawals and purchases through ATP made with national cards in March declined by 11.7% while those made with international cards plummeted by 34.6%.

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