The number of payment cards in Lebanon (debit, credit, charge, and prepaid cards) fell by 13.80% (328,386 cards) during the first nine months of 2023 to 2,050,821 cards, down from 2,379,207 cards at end of 2022. In detail, the number of debit cards dropped by 160,524 (10.34%) to 1,392,425, the number of credit cards contracted by 54,776 (38.80%) to 86,413, the number of charge cards fell by 1,516 (2.20%) to 67,381 and the number of prepaid cards decreased by 111,570 (18.11%) to 504,602 cards. In the same vein, the number of Points of Sales (POS) fell by 2,958 (11.16%) in the first nine months of 2023 to 23,547 as a result of merchants’ preference for cash sales to overcome withdrawal limits imposed by banks on the one hand and the shift towards a dollarized cash economy on the other hand, not to mention the closure of a number of enterprises amid the prolonged economic stalemate.

In a related note, the banking sector’s ATM network continued to shrink, comprising 1,264 machines by end of September 2023, down from 1,515 at end of 2022. The drop in ATM machines can be attributed to the closure of some branches as part of banks’ downsizing strategies to accommodate for the slow economic activity and banks’ efforts to trim operating expenses. The Mount Lebanon region amassed the highest concentration of ATMs (441 ATMs <34.89%>), followed closely by the Beirut and Suburbs (439 ATMs <34.73%>), North (137 ATMs <10.84%>), Bekaa (113 ATMs <8.94%>), South (107 ATMs <8.47%>), and Nabatieh (27 ATMs <2.14%>) regions.