The majority of Germans still prefer using cash over electronic forms of
payment, a study has found. Consumers feel real banknotes and coins are
a lot safer, and that their use is completely anonymous to boot.
Cash payments have slightly lost in importance in Germany in recent
years, a new study by the country's central bank showed on Wednesday.
But while this may be so, the majority of Germans still preferred not to
use debit or credit cards in paying for goods or services, the survey
revealed.
"The end to coins and banknotes is not yet in sight in Germany," said
the Bundesbank's Carl-Ludwig Thiele. "Fifty-three percent of all
revenues for goods and services are paid in cash, meaning it's still the
best-loved form of payment in the country," Thiele explained. He added,
though, that back in 2008 the corresponding rate stood at 58 percent,
indicating a slight, but steady decline over the years.
The Bundesbank study said the over 2,000 households polled made it clear
that a big proportion of inhabitants deemed banknotes and coins safer
to use and completely anonymous.
Mistrust of electronic payments
If not measured in terms of total revenue, but in terms of the total
number of payments made, Germans' continued love for cash became even
more obvious, with more than 82 percent of transactions involving cash
payments.
Debit or credit cards are typically only used in payments over 500 euros
($656). The survey also found that a disproportionately high number of
cash payments are made by Germans under the age of 25 or aged above 55.
The Bundesbank stated that Germans carried with them an average of 103
euros, with an average of 5.90 euros in coins. Back in 2008, they still
had an average of 118 euros in their pockets. Whether the slight decline
was a result of the protracted debt crisis on the continent could not
be verified in the poll.
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