The Covid-19 outbreak that began in spring 2020 has affected payment methods, which the statistics clearly show.

The number of card payments made at physical points of sale declined in the period between 2019 and 2020. At the same time, the average value of card payments increased somewhat. Most card payments made at physical payment terminals, about two out of three, were contactless. Reduced travel activity has resulted in a marked decline in the number of payments made with Norwegian cards at physical points of sale abroad.

The use of cash at retail outlets has declined, and ATM and POS cash withdrawals have declined substantially. Banks have established a new service for the withdrawal and deposit of cash at grocery shops. Withdrawal figures both for the use of this service, “in-shop cash service”, and for withdrawals over the counter at bank branches have been collected and are presented in this publication.

The strong growth in online shopping using cards also continued in 2020. A share of online purchases were made using means other than card payments. According to a survey conducted by Norges Bank, one in four online purchases were initially invoiced and settled afterward. If the invoice is paid with a card, such transactions will also be recorded as online shopping in the statistics.

For transfers between private individuals, the use of mobile phones is now by far the most widely used method of payment. As many as four out of five such payments were made using mobile phones, primarily the Vipps mobile payment app. Most of these payments are made as instant payments between accounts, where the funds are available to the payee seconds after the payment is sent.