Direct debit

The European Commission is preparing to create a digital euro, it became clear from a draft law seen yesterday by DPA.

Consumers in Eurozone countries will be able to pay with the digital euro in a variety of ways, for example through their smartphones or smartwatches.

This payment method differs from paying by debit or credit card, DPA notes.

Greece is in second-to-last place among the 19 eurozone countries and 24th among all 28 European Union member-states in electronic payments per inhabitant, including payments with credit and debit cards and online transfers of money and e-payments of bills, according to European Central Bank data for 2018.

2015 is turning out to be the Olympic Games of … Eurogroup sessions and an unprecedented “gab fest” for European leaders engaged in the “Greek crisis saga”. Apparently, the Grecian “custom” of incessant political chatter and debate — from coffee shop, to kitchen tables to Parliament’s aisles — is infectious.

Greeks are among those least likely to use credit cards in the European Union, according to a European Central Bank report published on Tuesday.

Greece came third last both in terms of the frequency of use and the total value of payments made by credit card, according to the ECB.