The golden moment of digital payments continues, confirmation comes from Nexi. The second quarter of 2021, following the gradual lifting of the restrictions since April, was characterized by a strong recovery in transaction volumes, whose value was € 116 billion, + 31% on the second quarter of 2020 and -2 % on the second quarter of 2019. With revenues of € 539.5 million (+ 12.9% a) and EBITDA of € 298.2 million in the first half of 2021. This was announced by the Board of Directors after approving the results as at 30 June .
During the second quarter in particular, Italian cards showed higher levels of growth than the pre-Covid period while foreign cards, although still suffering, are showing signs of a rapid recovery. Furthermore, basic consumption confirmed a strong performance with double-digit growth (+ 32% vs 2Q19 and + 18% vs 2Q20), discretionary consumption continued in the recovery trend and, finally, high impact consumption showed a strong acceleration in the recovery (in particular for restaurants and bars).
The trends described above further confirm the signs of acceleration of digital payments in the country as already highlighted last year and now clearly visible in many sectors. A trend supported and strengthened also by government initiatives such as Cashback and the Receipt Lottery, which have certainly given a significant boost to cashless systems.