Hatzidakis: Greece leading in instant payments with rapid growth of IRIS system

Deputy Prime Minister Kostis Hatzidakis, speaking at the 9th Payments 360 Conference, stressed that Greece, due to the impressive penetration of the IRIS system, is currently one of the Eurozone countries with the highest level of adoption of direct payments. He also emphasised that a wholly Greek payment system paves the way for Europe to achieve strategic autonomy in payment services and financial technology, commonly referred to as fintech.

He noted that in Greece, direct payments constitute 25% of the total, surpassing the Eurozone average of 20.9%.

According to the data presented by Hatzidakis for 2024, the IRIS system has been adopted by 3.8 million citizens and 565,000 registered professionals. Meanwhile, IRIS transactions between individuals have risen by 142.4% compared to 2023, and payments to self-employed individuals have surged by 844%. Also, the IRIS Commerce service now has 8,000 registered e-shops and doubled its volume, reaching 7.3 million transactions. According to the same data, 65% of users of the IRIS payment service are 18-35 years old, and payments through IRIS to freelancers increased tenfold between 2023 and 2024, and between the first five months of 2024 and 2025, they increased fivefold.

Source: pagenews.gr