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25% more debit card payments before Sinterklaas

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In the run-up to Sinterklaas, shoppers made 23.4% more debit card payments than on normal days. On the final two Sundays before 5 December, they made almost 45% more debit card payments each day than on normal Sundays.

Sinterklaas in red miter and tabard looks seriously at a tablet and operates the screen against a white background.

As Sinterklaas shopping started three days earlier this year than last year, purchases were spread over a longer period. The daily record on Saturday 3 December, at almost 15 million debit card payments, was more than 7% higher than last year’s daily record. At the busiest point on the record day, 463 debit card payments per second were processed.

The Netherlands discovers Black Friday

On Friday 25 November, the American Black Friday, the number of debit card payments was already visibly higher at 16% above the previous week. Shopping gathered pace on Saturday 26 November, with transaction volumes more than 20% above those on a normal Saturday. Since Black Friday, almost 115 million debit card payments have been made, representing nearly €3.2 billion in turnover for retailers.

Online purchases with iDEAL rise even faster

After adjusting for the additional days, 27% more iDEAL payments were made during the two weeks before Sinterklaas this year than last year. The effect of Black Friday was also clearly visible in iDEAL payments: all records were broken on Friday 25 November, with almost 1.5 million transactions in a single day, more than 75% above a normal Friday. Since Monday 21 November, a total of 14.3 million iDEAL payments worth almost €1.1 billion have been made.

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