2017.11.2409:31:00UTC+00Cash Remains Preferred Payment Option In Eurozone: ECB Study

Euro zone consumers still prefer cash to other options for paying for their purchases, though numerous survey have suggested that a cashless society is imminent, results of a study by the European Central Bank showed Friday.

Nearly 79 percent of all transactions at the point-of-sale terminals in the euro area were carried out using cash, which amounts to 54 percent of the total value of all payments, the ECB study conducted in 2016 revealed.

Almost 19 percent of the transactions were made with cards and 2 percent with other payment instruments.

That said, there were substantial differences between euro area countries.

The southern euro area countries, as well as, Germany, Austria and Slovenia, led the group where cash remained the predominant payment option and 80 percent or more of POS transactions conducted with cash in these regions.

The Netherlands, Estonia and Finland were the leaders in using payment options other than cash. The share of cash payments in the number of transactions ranged between 45 percent and 54 percent.

In value terms, the share of cash was highest in Greece, Cyprus and Malta, above 70 percent, while it was lowest in the Benelux countries, Estonia, France and Finland, at or less than 33 percent.

The study also showed that men tend to use cash more often than women and that consumers aged 40 and over use more cash than younger groups. Cash usage appeared to be relatively homogeneous across different levels of education.