Electronic means of payment continues to gain land in Portugal, especially immediate transfers, which have recorded significant growth. According to Banco de Portugal, these transfers increased 46.4 percent in quantity and 47.2 percent in value. Evolution is largely due to the new rules associated with immediate transfers.
Before the change, immediate transfers were a paid service, but current rules determine that they cannot cost higher than normal transfers. This change facilitated users’ adhesion, making instant sending money between people more.
Preference for electronic payments
In the general landscape of retail payments, a document published by Banco de Portugal and quoted by indicates that there was an increase of 11% in quantity and 5% in value, reaching 776.7 billion euros in 2024. The data reflects a growing preference for electronic payments in the daily life of the Portuguese.
Among the different payment methods, the card remains the most used in the country. The contactless system, which allows you to make payments just by approaching the terminal card without entering the code, has grown 24% and already represents almost half of card operations.
Reduction in the number of frauds
The introduction of additional security measures also had an impact on reducing fraud. According to Banco de Portugal, with the possibility of visualizing the name of the recipient before completing the transfer, the frauds known as “Hello father, hello mother” decreased 77% in just three months.
We recommend:
On the other hand, checks continue to lose relevance in the National Payment System. By 2024, the use of checks fell 18.3% in quantity and 13.7% in value. In total, more than eight million checks were passed, corresponding to an amount of 51.7 billion euros.
Will checks be discontinued?
Although the use of checks is decreasing, this means of payment has not yet been fully abandoned. One of the main reasons is that it continues to be widely used in high values transactions, such as buying real estate or cars. In addition, it is an option that still has the preference of older generations, which use it not only to make payments and raise money to the counter, but also to offer more significant amounts as a gift.
Companies resort to checks daily
In the business sector, especially among small and medium-sized companies, it is often maintaining checkbooks for everyday operations. However, outside these specific contexts, it is evident the loss of popularity of the checks to other payment methods, which are faster, simple and often more economical.
Banks forced to pay for checks
The costs associated with the use of checks have also contributed to this break. Those who use them have to pay to obtain the talons, and financial institutions also face charges in their management.
For example, banks are required to cover checks of less than 150 euros, even if the customer’s account does not have enough balance.
Also read:
