A cashless society is not only within reach, but is actively desired by a third of Europeans, according to research conducted by ING.
The survey of 15,000 consumers found that with a plethora of alternatives to cash available to them, 68% say that they would rather visit a shop that only accepted cashless payments instead of notes and coins.
One in five people in Europe (21%) said they rarely carry cash anymore. And if given the option, one in three would go completely cashless. Over half of all respondents said they are using less cash today than they did 12 months ago.
“The days of rushing to the ATM so you have enough money for the weekend are long gone,” comments ING senior economist Ian Bright. “Card and even mobile phone payments are increasingly being seen as safe substitutes.”
However, there are stark differences in attitude between countries, with people in emerging economies like Turkey more willing to embrace a cashless futures than traditionalists in Britain, Holland, Germany and Austria.
Cash may be in retreat, but its far from dead. While two-thirds of the sample feel they could get by with no cash on hand for about three days, only 38% are comfortable with the idea of going cashless for more than a month.