JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli shoppers broke the bank, literally, on Black Friday in malls across the country and online.
Tens of thousands of Israelis ran to malls on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in America to take advantage of Black Friday sales. They also made heavy amounts of on-line purchases during Friday morning hours.
Some 10,000 credit card transactions took place each minute during the peak hours of the Friday shopping period, the business publication Calcalist reported, citing Automated Bank Services, Ltd., the central credit card clearance company and communications network that processes credit card transactions throughout the country.
There was a major slowdown in the credit card system during those peak hours, after the holiday’s “exceptional load” overwhelmed the payment system, according to the Calcalist. Many businesses reported problems with clearing credit cards during those hours, according to the report.
Black Friday sales in the United States came to a record $6.22 billion this year, a more than 23 percent increase from 2017, according to Calcalist.
