Electronic payments in Belgium: 2009 in facts and figures

In total, Atos Worldline processed 1,230,098,751 transactions in Belgium, an increase of 4.5% over 2008. The majority of these transactions consisted of operations carried out with debit cards like Bancontact/Mister Cash. These cards were used to pay for 897 million purchases in 2009 (+7% over 2008). The number of cash withdrawals also increased to reach 111 million (+3.8%).

The economic crisis clearly impacted the number of transactions carried out with credit cards. Whereas in 2008, these transactions increased by 8.6%, the increase was only 5.1% in 2009. In all, 129 million credit card transactions were processed.

The average transaction amount decreased for both debit and credit cards. The average Bancontact/Mister Cash payment decreased by a euro for an average of 49 euros per transaction. This was due to a decrease in Proton transactions (82 million, -13.1%) which were to a large extent compensated for by growth in Bancontact/Mister Cash transactions for smaller amounts.

The average credit card transaction decreased even more significantly. Over a year, the average fell from 98 euros to 93 euros in 2009. Therefore, credit cards are increasingly being used for routine purchases. The amount of luxury item transactions (travel, clothing, hotels, restaurants, etc.) clearly fell because of the crisis.

On 23 December, Atos Worldline systems processed 4,493,677 transactions. The previous daily record of 4,373,924 was beaten. This record was from 10 May 2008, the day before Mother's Day.

The processing speed record was also beaten twice in 2009.  The previous record, from 10 May 2008, was 9340 transactions per minute. On 23 December, 9414 transactions were processed at 3:52 pm, the peak activity time. The record was again beaten on the following day at 11:38 with 9596 transactions per minute.

Card Stop services were expanded in 2009 with a clear website. Bank card holders can go to the website to find detailed information on how to cancel payment instruments. The website also provides a number of tips for safe card usage.

Our Card Stop call centres handled over 728,894 calls. This was 4.6% more than in 2008. Last year, 1,128,157 cards were blocked. This 25% increase was due to the fact that a large number of cards were blocked preventively. In 2009, fraud resulted in the blocking of 230,937 cards, either for preventive reasons or because of actual fraud. However, most of the cards were blocked because their owners had (temporarily) lost them (607,709 cards). Also, 178,280 cards were blocked because of theft.

With over 100,000 new registrations (double the number in 2008!), Epargnez&Cueillez, Atos Worldline's loyalty programme for credit card holders, increased the number of its members to 589,421. They earned over 20 million points in 2009. When the cardholder has saved 5 points, he automatically receives a voucher of 5 euro. Over 42% of the cheques were used at our 71 commercial partners. Atos Worldline introduced this simple programme to help merchants and banks promote the use of credit cards. In addition, a nice financial reward is offered to credit card holders who pay electronically.

Atos Worldline will continue to work toward a cash-poor society in 2010 by promoting the use of payment cards which guarantee both more security and increased efficiency. The fact that Belgian banks - as confirmed by their representative Febelfin - intend to double the number of electronic transactions over five years provides very significant support for Atos Worldline.