Discusses the most common methods of payment, such as open account, letter of credit, cash in advance, documentary collections, factoring, etc. Includes credit-rating and collection agencies in this country. Includes primary credit or charge cards used in this country.

Banks represent the main source of financing in Greece.  Time and sight deposits constitute the largest item on the liability side of Greek commercial bank balance sheets.
Before the 2009 Eurozone debt crisis, checks – especially post-dated - were used predominately for commercial transactions and large ticket item purchases and 30 to 90 days payments were common.  Since the current debt/financial crisis began in 2009, more and more companies/suppliers (including foreign companies) have sought to avoid accepting post-dated checks.  Additionally, banks do not easily issue checks to new customers and have implemented strict rules regarding check renewals of existing customers. 
 
Credit card penetration is extensive for retail transactions, although not near U.S. levels.  The credit card market increased by almost 20% annually from 2003-2008 and approached EU parity.  However, due to the economic slowdown, both the numbers of credit cards and in the volume of transactions decreased annually from 2008-13 according to data from European Central Bank.  However, the imposition of capital controls in June 2015 changed this practice significantly.  The total number of active payment cards (both credit and debit cards) in the market in 2016 were 14.6 million, close to the 1.5 card/citizen European average.  Of those, 81% are debit cards.  Over the 2014 to 2016 period, transactions via POS terminals increased by 136%, while debit card use rose by 391%.  According to banking data, the total turnover of payment cards in 2016 reached €17 billion (from €14 billion in 2015), while estimates for 2017 turnover are €22 billion.  Household debt (mortgages and consumers loans) in Greece totaled €94.8 billion in June 2016 (compared to €97.1 billion at the end of 2014).  However, almost 45% of those loans are non-performing.
 
The bond market in Greece is fully deregulated; however, it is still dominated by the issuance and trading of government bonds.  Interest on corporate bonds is exempt from tax if earned by a non-resident.
 
The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) has been widely used as a source of capital financing.  Demand and volume have been decreasing on the ASE, however, and 2011 was the second worst year (after 2008) in the past 20 years of ASE’s history, both because of continued decreases in share prices (due to the Greek sovereign debt crisis), and also due to a large shift in capital flows from developed to emerging stock markets.  In 2012 the ASE index lost 1.8% of its value, declining at a considerably lower pace compared to steep losses of 51% in 2011 and 35.6% in 2010.
 
S&P Dow Jones reclassified Greece from a developed to an emerging market in September 2014, becoming the latest market index to make the change.  The Russell index previously reclassified Greece as an emerging market as of July 2013, while the MSCI index made the change effective November 2013.  The reclassifications triggered a transfer of holdings of Greek equities from institutional investors in developed markets to those willing to invest in higher markets, and also drew several billion euros of new capital into the Greek market.

With the imposition of capital controls on June 29, 2015, for a period of six months (July 2015 – December 2015) domestic investors could only acquire shares with the injection of “fresh money” and could not use existing funds.  Short-selling of banking shares was not allowed.  As a result, FTSE downgraded the Athens Stock Exchange from “advanced” to “advanced emerging markets”– effective March 2016. 
 
In May 2017, the general index stood at 792 points.  Capitalization increased to €77.07 billion in May 2017 from €31.1 billion in February 2016 (+147%).  Participation of foreign investors in the total market capitalization reached 61.1% in March 2017 compared to 61.8% the previous month.
 
The Greek banking system has been substantially liberated from political patronage prevalent in the past, and now extends credit based on international best practices and credit risk scoring models.  A large and profitable firm can secure financing at rates lower than those offered to a self-employed professional because of the problems assessing an individual’s creditworthiness.  Most banks, as the financial crisis deepened, tightened their credit risk scoring rules, making credit more difficult and more expensive to access for households and companies.  A credit bureau has been set up by the Federation of Greek Banks, but it is still of limited use (Greek personal data protection laws limit its scope).  Matters are made worse by widespread tax evasion (estimated to be 20% or more of GDP), with some individuals hiding income from the tax authorities, which leads to higher interest rates for members of the general public when they attempt to secure a loan.  The national tax authority has made significant improvements, however, in tax administration and enforcement over the past 18 months.
 

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