Hint of Cash Change in Switzerland

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) carried out its latest survey on the acceptance of cash at selected companies in Spring 2024 and has now published its findings. The good news is that cash continues to be strongly supported. The less good news is that there is early evidence of change.

SNB contacted the 100 countries with the greatest market share across key sectors. 67% responded to the survey. In total 770 companies took part in the survey covering the largest retailers, public transport companies, restaurants, hotels, service providers, for example hairdressers and dentist, and arts facilities.

The three key findings were:

• Cash is still important driven by a mix of customer demand, the cost of using alternative payment methods and the need for payments to work in a crisis 
• 98% of companies accept cash, however the public transport companies are planning to reduce their cash acceptance over the coming years. The cost and effort of returning surplus cash drove this planned change 
• There were complaints that both banks and cash in transit (CIT) operations are too expensive. There are too few ATMs and counter services and not all locations allow cash to be deposited