Dutch consumers used their direct debit cards almost 2.5 billion times last year, a rise of 8.3% on 2011.

The sharpest rise was in payments of under €10, which were up 30%, the Dutch payment company association said.

The retail sector has been trying to encourage people to use direct debit  cards for smaller amounts and this has led to a rise in ‘pin only’ retail outlets. Some 1,400 supermarkets now have tills which do not accept cash money.

‘It is important customers use direct debit cards as much as possible, to improve check out speed and security,’ Rene Roorda, director of retail trade organisation Centraal Bureau Levensmiddelenhandel told Nos television.