Payments made with cards jumped 103% in Turkey in the first half of this year when compared to the same period of 2021, according to data released by the Interbank Card Center (BKM) on Friday.

Accordingly, the total amount of payments made via bank cards, credit cards and prepaid cards reached TL 1.44 trillion ($80 billion).

Some 91.1 million credit cards are being used in the country as of June, while the number of active bank cards is 157.8 million and prepaid cards number 63.9 million.

The highest growth in card payments in the first six months of 2022, compared to the same period of the previous year, was in the airlines sector, with an increase of 298% and a payment total of TL 55.7 billion, the data showed.

Accommodation, food, fuel stations and jewelry sectors followed the airline sector, respectively.

In the same period, the number of online card payments doubled year-over-year and reached TL 402 billion. Online card payments grew by 113% compared to the first six months of 2021.

The share of online card payments in total card payments also increased to 25.8%.

Contactless payment is preferred for two out of three card payments made in-store.

These type of payments doubled to 2.86 billion compared to the same period last year. The share of contactless payments in in-store payments rose to 63%.

In the first half of the year, payments made with foreign cards in Turkey tripled compared to the previous year and reached TL 153 billion. The payment amount per card transaction increased to TL 1,752.