Cyprus card spending drops 7% in October

Plastic card spending fell by 7% over the year earlier to EUR 173,489,697 (EUR 173.5 mln) in October, according to the card company JCC Payment Systems Ltd.
Spending for the first ten months was up, however, by 5% to EUR 1.86 bln, partly owing to an increase in government services available online.
The average spend per transaction in October was EUR 72.
Card spending by tourists in Cyprus rose by 19% in the same month to EUR 61,081,319, while spending by Cypriots abroad rose by 11% to EUR 125,166,811 .
Meanwhile, spending by Greek Cypriots across the Green Line in northern Cyprus rose by 30.9% over the year earlier to EUR 463,002.
The main increase seems to have come from entertainment (a category that includes casinos), which rose by 65.4% to EUR 154,327.
Spending south of the Green Line by Turkish Cypriots rose by 20.4% over the year earlier to EUR 1,539,606 (EUR 1.54 mln).