SIBS, the company that controls the Multibanco network and MB Way, recorded a 20 percent increase in payments made in December 2022, compared to the same period last year. However, the average value per purchase fell slightly, settling at €36.30. The peak of consumption was registered on 23 December, with 365 transactions per second being registered through the Multibanco network.

“Consumption in Portugal, in December 2022, increased compared to the previous year, registering a 20 percent growth in number compared to the previous year“, advances SIBS, and reported by ECO, adding that this trend was, above all, felt in online commerce, which increased “31 percent, in 2022, while physical purchases recorded a 19 percent increase compared to the same period of 2021”.

The peak of consumption in Portugal (considering physical purchases, online purchases, and payments) occurred at 12:12 am on 23 December, with 365 transactions per second recorded, i.e. a historic maximum on the Multibanco network. The highest number of daily physical purchases was also recorded on that day, “with 82 basis points above the daily average for the year, that is, the total number of purchases almost doubled compared to the average for the year”, notes SIBS.

Among the sectors that registered a greater increase in payments in the last month of the year, compared to January-November 2022, are games and toys, which saw purchases more than triple, perfumery, and cosmetics, and home and decoration (both saw purchases double).

The online commerce sector continues to gain ground, with this segment already representing 15 percent of total payments registered by SIBS in December 2022, i.e. one more percentage point compared to the same period of the previous year.

As for physical purchases made by the Portuguese abroad, in December they grew by 57 percent compared to the same period last year. The number of purchases with foreign cards in Portugal grew by 60 percent compared to December 2021.