According to a study by Paynopain, only 10% of consumers use cash on a daily basis to pay in small businesses, while more than 70% already prefer cards. In some age groups, barely 1% pay in cash.
This payment company revealed in its survey ‘ Payment methods: the final decision ‘ for 2024 that only 10% of Spaniards use cash for their daily purchases, while 52% prefer to pay with a credit or debit card.
However, according to the Paynopain study compiled by the Spanish Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises (CEPYME), despite the rise of cards, 73% of consumers do not want cash to disappear.
What methods do Spaniards use to pay in SMEs, according to age?
According to figures collected by CEPYME, consumers’ preferences in terms of payment methods, according to their age, are as follows:
18 to 25 year-olds: 50% prefer to pay with cards, 38% with digital wallets (Apple Pay/Google Pay) and 11% with cash. Younger consumers have left traditional payment methods behind: 27% of them do not even carry a cent on them. In fact, a third believe that cash will disappear in the next 5-10 years.
From 26 to 40 years old: in this case, the preference for the card drops to 42.5% and wallets such as Apple Pay or Google Pay are the ones that take the lead, with 55%. Cash and Bizum are far behind, both with 1.25% of followers. They are even more digital: 63.75% do not usually carry cash and opt for other models when paying. In addition, 37.5% predict the disappearance of notes and coins in the coming years, although for 65% this would not be good news.
40 to 60 year olds: the card reigns supreme among this group (59.09%) over electronic wallets (23.86%) and cash (15.91%). 73.86% still carry at least some cash with them. This age group is the one that most clearly points towards saying goodbye to cash in the coming years, with 42.05%. Despite this, a quarter say that it would be bad news.
61 years and older: the card is the most commonly used payment method in 62.5% of cases. However, the battle between wallets and cash is even here, with both convincing 18.75%. Cash is better off among older people (only 6.25% do not carry cash on them). Therefore, the disappearance of cash would be bad news for 8 out of 10.
Despite the rise of cards, 73% of consumers do not want cash to disappear
Cash is still ahead of other forms of payment that are becoming more and more widespread, such as wallets (37.1%), bank transfers and Bizum (the latter two only convince 0.5%).
However, even though cash has lost importance (almost 40% of users do not carry money on them), six out of ten believe that it will not disappear in the next 5-10 years, and 73% of them consider that its extinction would not be positive.
Asked about how they use cash, 67% use it to buy things in small shops, ahead of tips (24%) and gifts (7%).
Other Articles
The Final Reading of Q2 GDP in Spain Today
