Election-Morning Card Spending Rises 26.5% Compared With 2022 Vote

Israelis spent NIS 250.78 million through Shva’s payment systems between 08:00 and 11:00 on October 27, according to figures the company released on election morning. Spending was 26.5% higher than during the same hours on November 1, 2022, the previous Knesset election day, when the total was NIS 198.31 million. Shva’s busiest minute during the three-hour period came at 10:57. Payments in that minute reached NIS 2.39 million across more than 11,300 transactions. Shva, which manages Israel’s national payment system, compared the morning’s spending with the corresponding election-day hours in 2022. Separately, payment company Hyp reported 13% more transactions through 10:00 than during the equivalent period the previous Tuesday. Its figures showed a 198% increase in clothing and fashion transactions. The average transaction in that category rose approximately 17%, from NIS 278.98 to NIS 326.64. Hyp also reported a 10% increase in restaurant transactions, alongside a 50% rise in their average value, from NIS 50 to NIS 75. Food-delivery transactions fell 78%. These sector figures use Hyp’s comparison with the previous Tuesday; Shva’s 26.5% increase instead compares the value of payments during the same three morning hours on two different Knesset election days.