Skopje, 2 January 2025 (MIA) — Considerably more people made purchases with payment cards instead of cash in the third quarter of 2024 than in Q3 2023, the National Bank said in a press release.

According to the release, domestic card transactions increased by 10.2 percent in number and by 13.6 percent in value. 

This growth, the central bank said, was mostly due to the 29.2-percent annual growth in the number of electronic payments in the country as well as the 8.8-percent growth in payments through POS terminals.

The number of automatic payment transactions through payment orders also increased — by 9.9 percent — and the value of those transactions increased by 22.2 percent in Q3 2024 compared to Q3 2023.

"Most notable are the results from using mobile payment apps, which show an annual growth of 50.2 percent in the number of payment transactions compared to the same period in 2023," the release said. 

According to the central bank, 65 percent of the electronic payments were made through mobile apps, which "are becoming increasingly popular," the release said. mr/