Monthly point-of-sale (POS) debit card spending in Ireland has been more than two and a half times higher than credit card spending this year, according to data from the Central Bank.
New spending on credit cards throughout the year has remained stable, averaging €846m per month up to the end of October.
However, monthly POS spend on debit cards has risen by €322m since January, and reached over €2.1 billion in October.
A further €1.6 billion of debit card spending in October was accounted for by ATM transactions.
The majority of debit card expenditure takes place in the retail sector, with transactions valued at over €1.1 billion in October.
Meanwhile, total Irish debit card expenditure outside Ireland increased from just under €200m in February to a peak of €335m at the end of July.
Over the same period, equivalent credit card expenditure rose by €47m, amounting to €205m at the end of July.
The Central Bank data also shows that around 12% of interest-bearing credit card accounts had exceeded their credit limit in April, although this figure declined to 8.5% by the end of October.
A further 37% of accounts had balances between 76% and 100% of the credit limit for the same period.
