The trend towards paying without notes and coins has received a boost in the Corona crisis. For many consumers in Germany, cash is less important today than it was ten years ago.
According to a survey, the trend towards paying without notes and coins appears to be continuing. For example, 47 percent of 1,200 consumers surveyed in June said that they prefer to pay with their giro card at the checkout.
45 percent named cash, 13 percent credit cards and 10 percent other, according to the survey carried out on behalf of the Euro Kartensysteme institution. Multiple answers were possible.
Almost half of the consumers said in the survey that notes and coins are much less important to them today than they were ten years ago because there are plenty of other payment methods. Every third person (33 percent) believes they have less cash with them than they did ten years ago. At 49 percent, however, the amount remained largely the same.
Two-thirds of the 350 retailers surveyed (64 percent) see an increase in contactless payments in their shops since the beginning of the pandemic. Customers do not have to insert their credit card or giro card into a device. It is sufficient to hold the card or the smartphone with payment function in front of the reader. In the case of small amounts, it is not even necessary to enter the secret number (PIN). In times of pandemics, for example, contactless payment at the checkout is considered particularly hygienic. The trend towards cashless payments had received a boost in the corona pandemic.
In the first half of 2021, the giro card recorded an increase in transactions of 4.7 percent to 2.59 billion, as Euro Kartensysteme, a joint venture of German banks and savings banks, recently announced.
According to a study published in May by the Cologne retail research institute EHI, every third purchase in stationary retail was paid for by card in the first year of the 2020 pandemic. In terms of sales, the share was even 56 percent. Girocards in particular were used more frequently than before the crisis.
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
