AIB reports annual jump in card spending as customers flock to France

A record number of AIB customers used their credit and debit cards in France last month, as supporters flocked to Paris to cheer on Team Ireland at the Olympic Games, the bank said on Monday.

Overall, card spending volumes were flat from June to July but were ahead of July 2024 by 9 per cent, according new figures published by the lender, despite a noticeable pullback in spending in restaurants and pubs, which declined 6 per cent and 10 per cent month on month respectively.

But spending on hotels during what is typically a busy month for the sector offset the decline in the wider hospitality sector, AIB said. Hotel spending jumped 7 per cent from June to July and was 4 per cent ahead of the same month last month with customers aged 35-44 most likely to pay for a room followed by the 45-54 age cohort.

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July is a “hugely important month for the hospitality sector”, said Adrian Moynihan, head of the consumer section at AIB, “and hotels in Ireland are proving extremely popular this year.”

Meanwhile, some 45,000 AIB customers were responsible for 597,000 transactions in France in July, the most AIB has seen in a single month in the country including during last year’s Rugby World Cup.

Restaurants and groceries were the top spending categories in the month as the typical “exodus” of Irish holiday-makers was “complemented this year by visitors for the Olympics”, AIB said.

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Back-to-school spending, meanwhile, peaked on July 30th, Mr Moynihan said while cinemas saw their highest spend of the year on July 20th amid cool weather and the release of summer blockbusters such as Despicable Me 4 and Twisters.

“It is also heartening to see that card spend on electrical-vehicle charging rose 8 per cent month on month and 45 per cent year on year as customers play their part in driving the transition to a lower carbon future,” he said.

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