- In 2008, the total number of non-cash payments, using all types of instruments, increased by 5% to 78 billion in the EU. Card payments accounted for almost 40% of all transactions in 2008, while credit transfers and direct debits accounted equally for most of the remainder.
- The corresponding total value of transactions decreased by around 18% to €259 trillion. Credit transfers accounted for almost 90% of the total in 2008, while the remainder was generated primarily by direct debits (6%) and cheques (3%). The average value per transaction decreased by 20% to €3,315, partially due to exchange rate effects.
- The total number of payment cards (i.e. cards with a debit, credit or delayed debit function) was just under 727 million in 2008. This represented around 1.5 payment cards per person in the EU, and is an increase of 5% compared with 2007.
- The total value of euro-denominated currency in circulation increased in 2008, as compared to 2007, by 11% to 785 billion; of which over 97% was accounted for by banknotes. Around 35% of the value of all banknotes in circulation in 2008 were €500 denominations (compared with 32% in 2007), followed by the €50 denominations (32%) and €100 denominations (18%).
- The number of automated teller machines (ATMs) available to the public increased by around 6% to 400,000 ATMs. This means that there are over 850 ATMs per million inhabitants in the EU.
- The number of delivery instructions processed by central securities depositories reached 346 million, corresponding to a value of € 831 trillion. Compared with the data for 2007, this means a decrease of 8% of the number and a fall 9% of their value.
Payment instruments
The number of transactions carried out with all payment instruments (excluding cash transactions) grew by 5% in 2008. This is below the 6% per year between 2000 and 2008. The latter trend was primarily driven by the strong average growth rate of 10% per year for card payments over this period. The use of credit transfers and direct debits also grew, albeit at more modest average rates of 5% and 6% per year respectively. By contrast, transactions using cheques declined by an average of 5% per year over the nine-year period.
Retail payment systems
Retail payment systems in the EU mainly handle payments by the public, with a relatively low value and urgency, concerning e.g. credit transfers, direct debits and cheques.
In the EU as a whole, there were 40 retail payment systems in 2008, serving a total population of approximately 500 million. In that year, these systems processed 37.5 billion transactions, with a total value of €28.9 trillion. Just under a half (19) of these systems were located in the euro area, serving a total population of 322 million. These euro area systems processed 26.0 billion transactions in 2008 (i.e. 68% of the EU total) with a value amounting to €17.2 trillion (i.e. 59% of the EU total).
Compared with one year earlier, there was a net increase of five systems in the euro area and of one system in the rest of the EU. The increases in the number of transactions in both the EU and the euro area were 3% and 2%, respectively, while the value of transactions remained generally unchanged.
There is a notable degree of concentration in the retail payment systems of the EU. In 2008, the largest system accounted for just over one third (12.5 billion) of all EU transactions processed. Furthermore, the five largest retail systems together processed over 70% of all EU transactions. Four out of these five systems were located in the euro area.
Central securities depositories
Central securities depositories (CSDs) are entities which hold and administer securities or other financial assets, hold issuance accounts and enable transactions to be processed by book entry.
In 2008 there were 39 CSDs operating in the EU, of which 18 were located in the euro area. 346 million delivery instructions were processed by CSDs in the EU, with a total value of € 831 trillion. Compared with 2007, this represents a decrease of 8% in terms of the number of transactions and of 9% in terms of their value.
A notable degree of concentration remains, with the five largest CSDs accounting for 81% of the total value of the delivery instructions processed in the market. There is somewhat less concentration in terms of volume, with the five largest CSDs representing 62% of the total volume of delivery instructions processed.
The Eurosystem also monitors developments in the securities trading and clearing infrastructure, given its close relationship with the settlement of securities in CSDs. Therefore, in addition to the statistics from CSDs, the ECB is also releasing today statistics from central counterparties (clearing) and securities exchanges (trading).
