Contactless smart card

The proliferation of digital channels and the increased cost of carrying cash due to high inflation have boosted the use of debit and personal credit cards (PCCs), the Central Bank of Türkiye has said.

The Turkish banking regulator has decreed that the threshold for contactless payments will be raised by 100 percent to 1,500 Turkish Liras as of July 1.

Contactless payments will be extended to all public transportation services managed by OASA by the end of the year

Contactless payments via credit and debit cards have soared across Turkey in February and March, the Interbank Card Center (BKM) chairperson has said.

Payments made by contactless cards and mobile payments constituted some 15 percent of all market or store shopping in February, some 10 percent higher than the rate in the same month of 2019, Soner Canko said.

Commuters in Athens will be able to swap their paper tickets for smart cards similar to those used on public transport systems in other European cities in December 2016.