Hellenic Bank Association

Over 90% of bank payments were made via internet and mobile banking in 2022, highlighting the dominance of electronic networks in daily transactions, which have almost completely replaced cash transactions at the counter, but also a significant part of transactions at ATMs.

The issues of the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund's divestment from Greek banks and the expansion of the Hercules program were at the center of the meeting held this week by Minister of National Economy Kostis Hatzidakis with the Hellenic Bank Association.

The new Hercules program will include three pending securitizations amounting to 3 billion euros.

The spread between interest rates on loans and deposits is decreasing significantly, mainly after the recent increases in interest rates on new term deposits by Greek banks, according to the Hellenic Bank Association (HBA).

Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras met on Thursday with Andrea Enria, chair of the Supervisory Board of the European Central Bank's Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM).

Enria met with Stournaras and other members of the Bank of Greece's administration, as well as with representatives of the managements of Greek banks and the Hellenic Bank Association.

The Greek government channeled 12.2 billion euros into the real economy in 2020 as part of its support measures and is currently working on designing new measures and updating others to help enterprises cope with the consequences of the pandemic crisis.

Loans whose repayments have been frozen due to the pandemic add up to 30 billion euros, concerning some 400,000 individual and corporate borrowers, according to the Hellenic Bank Association. The moratorium on tranche payments expires on March 31.

Business owners seeking to extend the payment of their bills of exchange by 75 days will have to tell their bank by Tuesday which of their checks need to be protected, Development Minister Adonis Georgiadis told Skai TV on Saturday.

Viva Wallet, the company which operates the vast majority of card terminals in Greece, as well as being active in six other countries, said on Monday its equipment has been upgraded and now accepts contactless payments without the card user having to punch in their PIN for amounts up to 50 euros, as banks had requested.

The Hellenic Bank Association on Tuesday offered companies hurt by the spread of the coronavirus a six-month suspension of their corporate loan repayments, with an emphasis on the sectors of tourism, transport, food service and retail commerce.

The Hellenic Bank Association (HBA) urged customers to favor electronic transactions over visiting bank branches and to rely on card payments instead of cash, as a way to limit the transmission of the new coronavirus.

In its press release, the association said banks would continue their operations as usual and resupply ATMs with cash.