New figures from AIB show that card spending by the bank's customers at service stations increased 9% in the 12 months to March, while electric vehicle charging spend increased by 59% on the back of greater adoption of electric vehicles and expanded charging infrastructure. .
The data in the bank's latest Spend Trend report comes against a backdrop of global uncertainty and escalating fuel prices.
The Spend Trend report for March shows spending was up 7% year on year, mainly driven by online growth of 12% as well as in-store growth of 1%.
AIB said that while the day of the Czechia v Ireland play-off on March 26 saw twice as much spent as any other Thursday in March in pubs, the busiest day for spend in pubs so far this year was St Patrick's Day, which fell on Tuesday March 17.
Customers in Dublin had the highest average transactions in pubs on St Patrick’s Day, closely followed by those in Louth, Wicklow and Monaghan. Waterford customers had the lowest average transactions in pubs on St Patrick’s Day, AIB noted.
Today's report shows that second-hand fashion spend has surged over the last year. From a low base, it has increased 287% in the last 12 months, with 76% of the purchases by women.
Meanwhile, spending on entertainment (including digital games, event tickets, cinema, sports clubs and others) performed strongly, with 9% growth, and event ticket sales up by 5%.
AIB noted that the best day for event tickets in the first quarter of the year was Wednesday March 18, when tickets for the Olivia Dean gigs in Marlay Park were put up for sale.
The data for the Spend Trend report is compiled from 79 million card transactions carried out by AIB customers in store and online during March and has been anonymised and aggregated.
AIB's Head of Consumer Adrian Moynihan said that Irish consumers have experienced a turbulent start to the year, with utility, service station and EV spending increasing.
"However we can also see resilience in the economy as entertainment and leisure spend continues to grow. By monitoring these latest data trends, we can better support our customers, helping them to make informed choices that suit their needs, whilst ensuring businesses are equipped to respond to these changing patterns," he added.
