Shoppers used direct debit (pin) cards to buy goods and services over 2.9 billion times last year, an increase of almost 10% on 2013, payment system umbrella group Betaalvereniging Nederland said on Tuesday.

The biggest growth was in pin number-based payments under €10, which accounted for one billion transactions in 2014, news agency ANP reports.

Use of the iDeal online payment system rose over 24% to 180 million. The increasing popularity of smartphones and tablets is behind that increase, Betaalvereniging Nederland said.

Scan-only payments are also increasing and accounted for 8.3 million sales last year. Some eight million bank cards are now fitted with scan-only technology.

Retail lobby groups have actively encouraged shops to switch to electronic payments. Some shops, such as the Marqt supermarket group, do not accept cash.