Does France Love Cash?

The International Mint Industry Association (IMIA) issued a brief making the case for cash and for freedom of choice at its launch this month. This built on the research carried out by the Monnaie de Paris and reported at the Coin Conference last year by Marc Schwartz, Chairman and CEO of the Mint and Vice President of the IMIA.

The Mint asked Ifop to conduct a quantitative survey exploring the attitude of the French public to cash and coins, in a period covering 2021-2022. Overall, it found cash remains deeply embedded in the lives of French people and that the advantages of cash are well understood. Equally the concept of a cashless society is unwelcome. Finally, there is a wish for the one and two cent coins to be retained.

Day to day payments

Since 2021 there is evidence of a slight erosion in the use of and preference for cash. Those never using cash increased by a percentage point to 10% and the use of digital means to pay most of the time from 24% to 27%. Those who use cash most of the time dropped from 11% to 9%.

93% of people use a bank card to pay day-to-day, with 68% using cash (70% in 2021). Smartphone use is still only 11%. Cheques continue to be preferred (34%) over online payments using PayPal, Stripe etc. (23%). Perhaps digital habits are not as widespread as sometimes thought.

It is worth noting where cash is used, predominantly for payments in small shops and when giving loved ones money, including pocket money to children.

Attachment to cash

While it is often said that the young have less attachment to cash, 74% of 24-35 year olds are attached to cash compared with the average of 79%. Perhaps a smaller difference than one might have expected. 42% were very attached to cash on average.

The survey asked why people liked paying with cash. Again, compared with 2021 the reduction was minimal, a percentage point. Teaching children about money, no additional cost, direct and convenient means of paying between individuals, accessible to all, confidential and to save were all reasons given, with over 90% in agreement. Realising how much you are spending was 87%.

The role of cash as a strong symbol of country, culture, history and society ranked highly with only slight, one percentage point, changes compared with 2021. The figure for those who agreed, rather the combination of those agreeing and strongly agreeing, was quite different and, perhaps, tells a more subtle story.