E-commerce purchases account for one-fifth of all debit card expenditure and 45% of all credit card purchases, according to Central Bank data.

In the six months to June 2018, consumers used personal credit cards for e-commerce purchases totalling €2 billion. Business credit cards were used for €650m worth of online purchases during the same period.

Total personal credit card spend in H1 came to €4.3bn, with consumers using their credit cards to pay for €680m in transport-related costs, including air fares and holidays.

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Expenditure on business credit cards totalled around €1.1bn through H1 2018.

The Central Bank says more than five million debit cards are in issue, a three-year high, though one in seven debit cards are are not in active use.

Debit and credit card expenditure outside Ireland averaged €590m per month in the quarter to end June 2018, up 16% on the same period in 2017.