Cyprus Sees Surge In ATM Withdrawal Value Amid Digital Payment Expansion

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

February 27, 2026

ATM Withdrawal Trends

Data from the Central Bank of Cyprus show that cash withdrawals from the country’s 405 ATMs totaled €2.5 billion in the first half of 2025. Although the number of transactions declined compared with the same period in 2024, the average withdrawal increased 28% from €291 to €372, keeping the overall value of cash dispensed relatively stable.

Rapid Digital Payment Adoption

Cash usage continues to decline as digital payments expand. Cyprus remains one of the most advanced markets in the euro area for contactless infrastructure, with more than 70% of ATMs supporting contactless cards, compared with around 34% across the eurozone. Payment card circulation increased 7% year over year to approximately 2 million cards, equivalent to about two cards per resident, reflecting continued growth in electronic payment adoption.

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Consumer Spending Patterns And Card Dominance

Card payments now represent around 75% of transaction volume in Cyprus, placing the country among the most card-intensive markets in the euro area. Cyprus ranks second in payment card usage frequency, behind Portugal.

Debit cards remain the dominant payment method, with consumers significantly more likely to hold debit cards than credit or post-charge alternatives. VISA and Mastercard continue to account for the majority of issued cards. Average in-store card transactions stand at €37, slightly above the euro area average of about €33.

Online Spending Trends

Online transactions show higher average values than physical purchases. The average online payment in Cyprus reached €125, compared with roughly €60 across the euro area.

The data suggest that while cash withdrawals remain substantial, consumer behavior is increasingly shifting toward digital payments, particularly for higher-value online purchases.

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Google Cloud Outage Disrupts Banking And Digital Services Across The UK

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

October 20, 2026

A power outage at a Google Cloud data centre near London disrupted services across the UK on Tuesday, affecting banks, businesses and other digital platforms. Google said the incident was caused by a power event at its cloud operations, with full recovery expected by around 1300 GMT.

The disruption began at 0608 GMT and affected Google Cloud services in the europe-west2 region, which is hosted in London. In an initial update, the company reported elevated error rates and intermittent network failures across multiple services as engineers worked to restore operations.

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Banking Services Hit By The Disruption

Revolut was among the most visibly affected companies, with customers reporting problems with ATM withdrawals, bank transfers and card top-ups. A source close to the matter linked the issues to the Google Cloud outage.

Traditional banks also reported disruptions. Lloyds said some customers were experiencing problems with its app and online banking, while HSBC confirmed difficulties accessing its services. HSBC added that it was monitoring the situation and noted that other organisations were affected as well.

Disruption Spreads Beyond Finance

Downdetector, which tracks online service disruptions, recorded hundreds of reports involving other businesses, including property website Rightmove and the Royal Mail postal service. The reports suggested that the outage was affecting multiple parts of the UK’s digital economy.

The incident highlights the risks facing businesses that depend on shared cloud infrastructure. Even a temporary failure at a single provider can disrupt services across several sectors, from banking and payments to logistics and consumer platforms.

Companies Reassure Customers

Revolut said it had been working to resolve the issue since it was identified and apologised to affected customers. The company also confirmed that customers’ money and data remained safe.

As cloud platforms underpin an increasing share of digital commerce, the outage illustrates how disruptions to critical infrastructure can spread far beyond the provider itself, affecting businesses and customers across the economy.

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