Cash Usage Holding Up in the Eurosystem

The headlines in the European Central Bank’s (ECB) 2024 study on the payment attitudes of consumers in the euro area (SPACE) paint an interesting picture for cash payments, both alone and relative to other payment instruments ¹.

Cash usage is falling fast in big user countries such as Austria and Ireland. While cash usage is clearly under pressure with material change going on, evidence for a decline in cash is also mixed.

The ‘say-do’ gap is increasing, as evidenced by a slight rise in those saying that there is a need to keep cash, up by two percentage points to 62% compared with the 2022 study, and yet a fall in cash transactions from 59% in 2022 to 52% in 2024. While the report is relaxed about cash acceptance, in reality 5-10% of retail outlets are not taking cash.