New figures from AIB show that total card spending by its customers increased 4.5% year on year in October, with in-store spend up 6.9% and online spending up 1.2%.
The AIB Spend Trend report for October reports a total of 76.5 million card transactions for the month.
Today’s figures show that cinemas provided a bright spot again in October, with spend at the movies up 24.9% year on year and 14.4% compared with September.
But overall entertainment spending was down 7.3% on an annual basis and by 15.9% on a monthly basis.
AIB noted that after September’s highest ticket sales month in two years, card spending on event tickets fell 47.8% month on month and 38.3% year on year.
Meanwhile, department store spending rose 14.2% in October on the same month last year, while clothing rental spending hit its usual October peak and was up 22.9% year on year.
Spending on restaurants and dining, including pubs, increased 8.9% compared with October of last year.
The Cork Jazz Festival, which ran from October 22 to 26, coincided with the city’s two strongest days so far in 2026 for in-store restaurant and pub spending.
AIB noted that on October 25 – the highest-spending day – in-store pub spend was more than six times Cork’s daily average for January to October, while restaurant spend was more than double the average.
The data for the Spend Trend was compiled from 76.5 million card transactions carried out by AIB customers in store and online and has been anonymised and aggregated.
Figures today from AIB also show that Black Friday last year was the biggest day ever for card spending by the bank’s customers.
The bank’s Spend Trend report shows that total spending online and in store rose 2.8% compared with Black Friday 2024, outstripping even the busiest Christmas shopping day of 2025 on December 23.
AIB said that online spending reached an all-time high, up 6.3% on Black Friday 2024, while in-store spend held steady.
The number of online transactions on Black Friday 2025 increased 10% compared with 2024.
AIB noted that the busiest hour for online payments was between 7pm and 8pm, when more than 52,000 transactions were made, averaging 15 per second.
But the hour with the highest spending was 11am to 12 noon when €1,596 was spent every second on average, with an average transaction amount of €119.
Today’s figures show that Black Friday last year was the strongest day of the year for online sales across jewellery, department stores, clothing, electrical goods, retail and groceries. Electrical goods sales were particularly strong, with online electrical goods spend rising 26.4% compared with Black Friday 2024 and 36% higher than on Cyber Monday 2025.
Customers from Roscommon recorded the highest average online transaction on Black Friday last year at €101.75, while customers in Louth had the lowest at €81.60.
Adrian Moynihan, Head of Consumer at AIB, said that Black Friday 2025 set a new benchmark for spending, with online purchases reaching an all-time high and total card spend exceeding even the busiest Christmas shopping day.
But ahead of this year’s Black Friday, he cautioned consumers that if a Black Friday deal looks to good to be true, that is because it probably is.
“Always wait a sec and double check, and beware of potential scams,” he urged.
