Online and mobile banking payments have jumped 60pc since 2018, according to the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI).

The number of payments made online or by mobile rose to 73.1 million in the first half of this year. This was 4pc higher than the same period in 2022.

BPFI also reported that this is the highest volume of online and mobile banking payments recorded in a six- month period since the data series began in 2016.

As more consumers opt for digital payment options, cheque usage has plummeted by more than half since 2018.

Cheque volumes were down 12.1pc to 7.5 million in the first half of 2023 and are now at the lowest level since at least 2008, BPFI said.

More than 604 million payments were made on credit and debit cards in the three months to the end of June, according to analysis from the Central Bank of Ireland.

These payments were valued at almost €22.7bn, with 85pc made within Ireland.

A total of 80pc of all card payments were made in person.

The majority of consumer spending was focused on supermarkets and restaurants, the research showed.

The daily spend on groceries was €43.7m, while dining out accounted for €16.1m of the daily payments recorded in the period.

This was closely followed by €13.3m spent daily at fuel stations and other automotive retail outlets.

Spending on transport accounted for around €400,000, the research showed.

Irish cardholders also spent almost €4m on restaurants outside of the country, BPFI reported.

Contactless payments accounted for almost 85pc of all transactions recorded in Ireland, with around 3.8 million made per day.

The average value was around €16.46, while 41pc of contactless transactions were made with mobile wallets instead of physical cards.

There were also fewer than 300,000 cash withdrawals per day, with the average withdrawal around €141 in the period.

“Today’s report shows a continued rise in the volumes of online and mobile banking payments in Ireland,” BPFI’s head of payments Gillian Byrne said.

She added that more than 6.6 million payments were processed each day in the three months to the end of June.

She said in-person payments outnumbered online payments by about three to one.

Reporting on: www.independent.ie