5.7% rise in Christmas debit and credit card spend
Bank of Ireland customer credit and debit card spending increased by 5.7% during the Christmas period in December.
The bank said this figure remains ahead of the latest CPI inflation number of 3.2% posted in November, and indicates real price adjusted spending growth by Irish households.
It said spending in many of the main categories were higher when compared with December 2024.
Spending on electrical goods was up by 6.3%, spending on services spiked by +5.7%, outlay in restaurants and pubs rose by 2.5% , and retail spending recorded a 1% increase.
Education spending saw a 10.5% rise, health was up 9.5% and entertainment spend rose 2.8%.
However the bank noted that ATM withdrawals showed a continuing decline.
"One trend is impossible to ignore, cash usage continued its slide - ATM withdrawals dropped again last year and now make up just 13% of monthly spending, a dramatic fall from the pre‑Covid era," said Conall MacCoille, Bank of Ireland Chief Economist.According to BOI this is a steep drop from pre-Covid times where cash would often account for around 30% of monthly spending and continues a trend where cash as a percentage of total Bank of Ireland card spending has fallen for the past 5 years in a row.
Total Bank of Ireland card spending during 2025 was up 5.3% with the bank saying consumers looked beyond the ongoing global economic and political uncertainty.
"These spending figures are strong and in line with expectations, with Q3 2025 national accounts showing that annual consumer spending grew robustly in the first 9 months of the year, up 2.9% on average," said Mr MacCoille.
"This is consistent with other indicators such as the 5.1% rise in VAT receipts in 2025 and c5% rise in earnings to Q3 2025," he said. "While inflation ticked up towards late 2025, it's likely to average around 2.2% for the year, and this card spending data reflects that real consumer spending rose by close to 3% in 2025 – in line with our forecasts."
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