Benchmark

Europeans Still Love Paying Cash, Even if They Don't Know It

ECB study shows most point-of-sale payments in the euro area are cash, but more people say they prefer to pay by card

A man counts euro notes in this arranged photograph in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. The euro weakened to a decade low against the yen before Italy auctions as much as 8.5 billion euros ($11 billion) of debt. European shares and U.S. equity-index futures climbed.Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi

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By Piotr Skolimowski

November 26, 2017 at 6:00 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Digital currencies may be getting all the buzz these days, but notes and coins still reign supreme in most of Europe.

Cash made up around 79 percent of everyday payments across the euro area last year, according to a European Central Bank study. Almost a quarter of consumers also kept some cash at home as a precaution, and 20 percent said they had a high-denomination note – 200 euros ($237) or 500 euros – in their possession in the year before the survey was conducted.