Atos Worldline reveals number of payment transactions processed the 1st semester

Brussels, 23 July 2009 – Atos Worldline, the European expertise of Atos Origin in electronic payments and transactions, is announcing the number of transactions processed in Belgium the first half of 2009. Atos Worldline noticed a growth in payments using Bancontact/Mister Cash in the retail sector. In addition, the economic crisis has resulted in slower growth and lower average expenditures.
In the first half of 2009, Atos Worldline processed in Belgium a total of 594 million transactions. This represents a 3.6% increase compared with the first half of 2008. Growth of 5.1% was measured during the same period last year. The vast majority of the transactions are carried out using debit cards such as Bancontact/Mister Cash. This accounted for 417 million purchases, an increase of 5.8% (compared with 7.3% at the start of 2008). The number of cash withdrawals rose slightly to 47 million (+3.7%).

What is most striking is the growth in purchases using Bancontact/Mister Cash in the retail sector. In the first half of this year, this type of transactions increased by 8.4% (compared with 7.8% last year). However, this growth does not extend to the overall figures as a result of a drop in the number of transactions in the petroleum sector. It is clear that the crisis is causing both private consumers and the transport sector to economize on fuel consumption.

The number of transactions made with credit cards remains much smaller (60 million). The growth in these transactions has been the hardest hit by the economic crisis. The growth of 3.7% compared with the first half of 2008 is in fact considerably lower than the 8.5% increase that Atos Worldline recorded in the first half of 2008. There has been a noticeable shift in the number of cash withdrawals using credit cards. Whereas growth was recorded across the board for all other transactions, there has been an effective decrease here (from -1.3% for Belgians in Belgium to -4.8% for Belgians abroad).

Although the number of transactions continues to grow, the average amount per transaction saw a downwards trend. The average amount for purchases made using Bancontact/Mister Cash fell by 1.7 euro per transaction to 48.9 euros. For purchases with credit cards, the drop is even more pronounced. In 2009 the average amount was 95.3 euros (as compared with 102.4 euros in the first half of 2008).

In summary, the majority of Belgians do not seem to be reducing their purchases, but are probably consuming with greater attention to price.