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According to the data announced by the credit and insurance comparison platform Accountkurdu.com, credit card applications made in the first six months of 2021 increased by 100% compared to the previous year. In the week of June 25-July 2, when the restrictions were eased, card expenditures increased by 59% and reached 35.4 billion TL. Stating that the payments are mostly made to accommodation facilities, airlines and travel agencies, Alper Lenger, Bank and Credit Product Manager of Accountkurdu.com, said" “the number of cases that are increasing again signals that we will see basic needs at the top of this table during the winter months,”

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ISTANBUL (TR) - The reduction of the restrictions applied within the scope of the pandemic at the beginning of the summer has especially activated the social life. While spending increased, citizens found the solution in credit cards. Analyzing the Central Bank data, the credit comparison platform Accountkurdu.com announced that after the easing of the measures, card expenditures increased by 59% in the week of June 25-July 2 compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching 35.4 billion TL. It was pointed out that there were increasing credit card applications behind this table. According to Accountkurdu.com data, credit card applications made in the first six months of 2021 increased by 100% compared to 2020. Compared to the previous year, the highest increase was seen in January with 251% and February with 190%. In June, when the restrictions were lifted, this rate was recorded as 64.62%.

Most payments were made to accommodation facilities, airlines and travel agencies

Alper Lenger, Accountkurdu.com Bank and Credit Product Manager, made an assessment on the subject, “Social life, which came to a standstill almost all winter, suddenly took its pre-pandemic state when the restrictions were lifted at the beginning of summer. The acceleration of holiday plans and wedding preparations in particular led to an increase in card applications in July and a concentration of expenditures in the accommodation, flight, travel, food and beverage and jewelery sectors. While spending on accommodation almost doubled compared to the same period of the previous year, this rate was close to 175% in airlines, 85% in travel agencies, 80% in catering and 65% in jewellery. However, the number of cases that have recently increased again signals that we will see the basic needs in the first place of this table in the winter months”.

Internet shopping is not just a seasonal demand explosion

Accountkurdu.com also examined card payment transactions made on the internet. Accordingly, in the first 6 months of 2021, a total of 672 million 551 thousand 253 card payments were made online for Turkey and international expenditures. It was noteworthy that this figure was 412 million 246 thousand 986 units in the same period of 2020. A similar picture was also seen in the transaction amounts. The transaction amount, which was in the band of 106 million TL in 2020 in the first 6 months, exceeded 186 million TL in 2021.