Feb. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Italians prefer to pay in cash nine out of 10 times because of ``prejudices and lack of information'' about credit and debit cards, according to a joint study by consumer group Cittadinanzattiva and lender UniCredit SpA.

``We are still too attached to cash in our country. In Europe we are second only to Poland in cash transactions,'' Gabriele Piccini, head of UniCredit's retail division, said in an e-mailed statement today.

About 78 percent of Italians own debit cards and 52 percent own credit cards, Cittadinanzattiva and UniCredit said in the statement. Still, Italians use the cards less than consumers in other European countries because of concerns about theft, hoaxes, and ignorance about other functions the card offer, including payment of bills, according to the study.

Only about 3 percent of debit cards are cloned every year and 4 percent are stolen, the report showed.

Costs related to daily deposits and money counting by businesses, replenishment of ATM cash machines by banks, and theft of cash and lost interest payments by citizens amount to about 10 billion euros ($15 billion) a year, Piccini said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alessandra Migliaccio in Rome at amigliaccio@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 21, 2008 13:59 EST