Payments to payment institutions were the largest category of purchases made using Cypriot-issued cards during the second half of 2025, representing 14% of total card spending, or €1.1 billion, according to the Central Bank of Cyprus' Payment Statistics Report for the second half of 2025.
The second-largest category was payments to government services, accounting for 11% (€832 million) of total card expenditure, followed by grocery and supermarket purchases at 10% (€745 million).
Top 10 card spending categories
The most popular categories by transaction value were:
- Payment institutions
- Government services
- Groceries and supermarkets
- Bank transfers and money orders
- Restaurants and food outlets
- Utility bills
- Brokers and securities dealers
- Fuel stations
- Hotels
- Clothing and apparel
Investment-related payments surge
The Central Bank noted that payments to brokers and securities dealers more than doubled over the past three years, pointing to growing use of payment cards for investment activities.
According to the report, this trend is consistent with Cyprus' strong presence of foreign exchange (Forex) and contracts for difference (CFD) service providers, which appear to be driving increased card payment flows to investment and trading platforms.
Online transactions dominate
The analysis also highlighted significant differences in how payments are made across various categories of goods and services.
Payments to payment institutions were conducted almost exclusively online, with internet transactions accounting for virtually 100% of the total value of those payments.
