The ECB survey confirms the dominance of cash

According to a survey published yesterday by the European Central Bank, cash remains the most widely accepted means of payment in the euro area and has even recovered from the slight decline observed during and after the pandemic. Among the 8,205 micro, small, medium and large enterprises from the 21 euro area countries that took part in the survey, 92 per cent of those with physical retail outlets stated that they accept cash (+2 percentage points compared with 2024), whilst card payments are accepted by 88 per cent of retail outlets. In Italy, the rate of cash acceptance among SMEs stands at 99 per cent – the highest figure in the Eurozone alongside Greece – whilst Belgium (81 per cent) and Cyprus (76 per cent) bring up the rear.

Compared with 2024, there has also been greater integration of digital payments. For example, the proportion of businesses reporting that they accept mobile payments has risen from 36 per cent to 68 per cent, and 25 per cent of firms have stated that they are investing to increase the use of digital payments through greater use of cashless terminals. On the other hand, the ECB warns that, compared with two years ago, there has been a sharp rise from 22 per cent to 35 per cent in the number of merchants who, amongst those refusing cash, cite the difficulty of depositing or withdrawing it as the reason. Despite this, the most commonly cited reason for not accepting cash remains low customer usage (36 per cent).

In any case, the ECB’s survey shows that an increase in digital adoption does not lead to a decline in the dominance of cash. This is why the EU’s payment policies must do everything possible to preserve this coexistence once the digital euro is introduced, ensuring that citizens and businesses always have the final say on how they pay.