Payment cards

Bank cards are one of the payment instruments that have acquired most importance over the last few years. With over 800 million units in circulation throughout Europe and an annual transaction volume exceeding 60 thousand million euro, today payment cards are one of the most important retail payment instruments in the European Union (EU).

In order to get a better understanding of the situation of said market in our country, for several years the Banco de España has regularly monitored its development.

This section provides timely information on some of the major questions concerning payment cards, as well as regular and up-to-date statistics which reflect their most important aspects.