Purchases made using bank cards in the Azores amounted to 132.2 million euros in January 2024, corresponding to a year-on-year increase of 6.2%, according to the Azores Regional Statistics Service (SREA) data.
Of these, around 122.3 million euros are purchases made with national bank cards, representing a year-on-year increase of 5.3%, and around 9.9 million euros are purchases made with international bank cards, which depicts a year-on-year increase of 19.6%.
Payments for services made using bank cards at POS in the Azores totaled around 1.6 million euros, representing a year-on-year decrease of 73.4%.
In the same month, ATM withdrawals in the Azores amounted to 42.6 million euros, corresponding to a year-on-year decrease of 3.0%. Of these, around 41.3 million euros were domestic withdrawals, which represents a year-on-year decrease of 2.9%, and around 1.3 million euros were international withdrawals, which defines a year-on-year reduction of 5.4%.
The volume of domestic purchases and withdrawals represented 88.7% of total purchases and withdrawals over the last 12 months.

in Diário dos Açores – Osvaldo Cabral, director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Cultures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance)  at California State University, Fresno–PBBI thanks the sponsorship of the Luso-American Development Foundation from Lisbon, Portugal (FLAD)