Card purchases in Spain up 28% in the first half of 2018
According to a study of bankintercard users, most of our card purchases (17%) were made in supermarkets, followed by restaurants and travel (each at 10%).
There are substantial differences in card use between both sexes: purchases made by men totalled 66.83% higher than those made by women.
August 2018. In recent years, the steady economic recovery has begun to be noticed in Spain, with increasing consumption as one of its main indicators. This spike in consumption is clearly evident in the increase in credit card purchases.
According to a study of users of bankintercard, the credit card arm of Bankinter Consumer Finance, the number of credit card transactions increased by 28.3% between January and June 2018.
The total amount of these purchases was 22.8% higher than last year during the same period.
Based on the report, which considered data from almost one million bankintercard users, most card purchases were made in supermarket (17%), followed by restaurants and travel (each around 10%).
The card purchase gap between men and women continues
In the first half of 2018, card purchases increased amongst both men and women. This increase was slightly higher with women, up 24% with respect to the same period last year, whilst card purchases made by men saw a 21.8% increase. Still, there continues to be an enormous gap between both sexes in terms of credit card purchases.
Despite overall trends, in the first six months of the year, purchases made by men totalled 66.83% higher than those made by women. Furthermore, there is a 56.7% difference in the number of card transactions, mostly made by men. This indicates that women card users not only make fewer purchases than men, but that purchases made by women are for significantly smaller amounts.
The concepts of purchases also different depending on customers’ sex. Therefore, aside from mainly using cards in supermarkets and for travel, men spend a significant portion of their budget on eating in restaurants (12%) and paying at petrol stations (9%).
On the other hand, women spent 11% on clothing in the first half of 2018, followed by 7% on cosmetics and purchases in large department stores and supermarkets.
About Bankinter Consumer Finance
Bankinter Consumer Finance is one of the banking institutions that grew the most in 2017 in Spain. It continues to follow this trend in 2018. At the end of the first half of 2018, its customer portfolio amounted to 1.2 million euros, up 23% year-on-year, having attracted a total 163,000 new customers in the last six months. Total consumer lending saw significant growth. At 30 June, it grew by 42% year-on-year to 1.7 million euros.