Belgians pulled out their bank card or smartphone almost 2.3 billion times in 2022 to pay with Bancontact or Payconiq. Over a period of five years, that’s an impressive increase of 54.5%. And over a ten-year period, payments with Bancontact and Payconiq have increased from 1 billion to 2.3 billion. “Our payment habits are changing rapidly – and the end of this acceleration of electronic payments is not yet in sight,” says CEO Nathalie Vandepeute.

Back in 2018, the World Cup was taking place in Russia, while the people of Britain were ecstatic about Harry and Meghan’s fairy-tale wedding and only a minority paid contactless or by mobile in Belgium. It seems a lifetime ago… or a sign of how much things can change in just five years!

• Compared to five years ago, we paid contactless nearly 36 times more often by tapping our Bancontact card on the payment terminal instead of inserting it into the little slot of the payment terminal. In 2022, there were more than 1.1 billion contactless Bancontact payments, compared with a little over 31 million in 2018. In December 2022, 61% of all Bancontact card payments made in-store were contactless.
• Compared to five years ago, we made 8 times more mobile payments using the Payconiq by Bancontact app or a banking app incorporating Bancontact and/or Payconiq. In 2022, there were nearly 275 million mobile payments, compared with nearly 34 million in 2018. Mobile payments can be made in-store and online by scanning a QR code with your smartphone. You only have to confirm the payment on your smartphone and you’re done. Payments between friends and/or colleagues are also so easy to make using your smartphone. You simply scan a QR code of the person you want to pay or else you can select the beneficiary in your list of contacts in the Payconiq by Bancontact app and pay them back remotely.
• Compared to five years ago we paid 3.7 times more online with Bancontact and Payconiq. In 2022, there were over 264 million online payments, compared with nearly 71 million in 2018. In December 2022, 82% of online payments were made using the Payconiq by Bancontact app or with a banking app incorporating Bancontact and/or Payconiq. The other 18% were paid with a bank card and card reader.