Abstract This paper examines the macroeconomic drivers of credit and debit card transactions, including purchases and cash withdrawals, using a dynamic economic model. It evaluates the impact of economic activity, unemployment, inflation, and policy interest rates on transaction volume and value. The empirical investigation utilizes a unique dataset from Türkiye spanning January 2015 to December 2023, analyzed through structural vector autoregression models. Results show economic activity increases transaction numbers, particularly for credit card purchases, while unemployment reduces them. Inflation consistently boosts both the number and amount of transactions. Policy rate increases raise transaction numbers but decrease the amount per transaction, suggesting monetary policy's effectiveness lies more in transaction value. Economic activity explains most volatility in transaction numbers, while inflation shocks drive volatility in transaction amounts. Important policy implications follow.