The Lebanese Central Bank released data which indicates that at the end of June 2008, there was a 2.9 percent increase in the number of debit and credit cards used in the country as compared to the end of March 2008, and that overall, the annual credit and debit card use rate increased by 8.9 percent.

Also, the majority of cards used - 96.6 percent – are shown to belong to local Lebanese residents. Most Lebanese cardholders opt for debit cards, as figures indicate that 62.6 percent of them use this payment method, while 21.8 percent of residents use credit cards and 10.3 percent use charge cards. The Lebanese Central Bank also announced that volume of monthly payments made via cards by Lebanese residents reached USD 70 million, marking a 29 percent increase as compared to the same period of the past year.