The pandemic speeds up the fall in the use of cash
A survey carried out by the Bank of Spain shows that only 36.6 % of Spaniards make payments with bills and coins, preferring the debit card
About 54 % of the Spanish population prefers to pay with a debit card and 36.6 % choose to pay with bills and coins. This was demonstrated by the national survey on the use of cash in 2020, carried out by the Bank of Spain to the general population, hoteliers and small merchants.
The results of the survey allow us to conclude that the habit of paying with cash has decreased since the confinement period due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, which has stimulated the use of other means of payment and the hygienic measures derived from the sanitary alert.
The study notes that 2.5 % of the population admitted that they had stopped using cash for hygiene reasons. 69.1 % of citizens and 61.3 % of commercial establishments stated that they will continue to use the electronic card and payments through mobile phones in the future.
The trend of using debit cards has generated that every day Spaniards have less cash availability in their pockets. More than 70 % of the respondents admitted not having more than five coins in their wallets, which is equivalent to approximately 5 euros.
A similar situation occurs with high-denomination banknotes. 89.4 % of those surveyed stated that they had not had a 200 or 500 euro banknote in their hands during the last year, while 56.6 % of merchants rejected payment with banknotes over 100 euros.
M. Rodríguez
Source: 20minutos.es
