From: FinTech Global
Cash may still be king, but new research from the European Central Bank shows digital payments are becoming more popular.
The ECB research reveals that 73% of retail transactions at the end of 2019 were using physical money whereas 24% of the payments were done with cards. Almost four out of ten card transactions were made using contactless technology in 2019.
That is a slight change from 2016 when 79% of transactions were made with cash and 19% were done with cards.
Looking at online shopping, Europeans used cards for 49% of their transactions and one out of four online transactions was made using e-payment solutions. Four out of ten bill payments were made using direct debit and two out of ten by credit transfer.
While the research originally only covered 2019, the ECB did conduct an ad hoc survey in July 2020 to gauge the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on people’s willingness to use cash.
The result of this survey showed that four out of ten respondents had used cash less often since the start of the pandemic. The answers were in line with previous research suggesting that the health crisis have accelerated the adoption of cashless solutions.
“Consumers’ freedom to choose their payment method is of the utmost importance to us,” said Fabio Panetta, executive board member of the ECB.
“Therefore we aim to ensure acceptance of and access to cash throughout the euro area, while promoting innovation on digital payments, including in our work on the possible issuance of a digital euro.”
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