AN EVALUATION OF CREDIT CARD USE IN TURKEY IN TERMS OF FOOD EXPENDITURES

Abstract

Today, a credit card is an essential tool in our lives. Both the number of people who use a credit card and the number of business concerns which accept them increase day by day. Consumers prefer to use credit card for their expenditures; thus, they are more inclined to buy. Credit card heads the list of the most effective payment methods of the digital transformation in the sense of payment in Turkey. According to the data obtained as a result of the card monitor research conducted for 2017 by the Interbank Card Center of Turkey (ICC), 68% of the Turkish population preferred credit card as the method of payment. According to the data from the ICC for December 2018, there were 66.304.603 credit card users in Turkey. For the same year, the number of internal transactions was 347.249.317, and the transaction amount was 70.439 million Turkish Liras. According to the data on household consumption expenditures for 2017 published by the Turkish Statistical Institute, the expenditures on housing and rent had the highest share (24.7%), followed by the expenditures on food and non-alcoholic beverages (19.7%). To the expenditures on food and non-alcoholic beverages, the Central-East Anatolian Region allocated the highest share (27.1%), while the Istanbul Region allocated the lowest share (15.5%). Between 2008 and 2017, the highest increase in the expenditures on food and non-alcoholic beverages was seen in the Central-East Anatolian Region (23%). According to the ICC’s statistical data, the amount spent by consumers on food using a credit card increased substantially (42.74%) between 2014 and 2018. The use of credit cards for food expenditures grows year by year, indicating that people meet their needs for food by borrowing. For this reason, this study investigated the share of food and non-alcoholic beverages in consumption expenditures in Turkey and the status of credit card use in such expenditures. The primary purpose of the study was to set forth credit card use in Turkey and its share in food expenditures and to offer solutions. For statistical data analysis, the period of 2009-2018 for household consumption expenditures of the Turkish Statistical Institute and that of 2014-2018 of the ICC were taken as the basis and given in tables.