Austria's use of cash is falling: is mobile payment the way of the future?

Austria's use of cash is falling: is mobile payment the way of the future?

Mobile payment methods are becoming increasingly important in Europe. According to a survey by the consulting firm PwC, which was carried out as part of the Payments and Open Banking Survey was carried out, today only 23 percent of those surveyed prefer cash payments. This is a significant decrease of 37 percent compared to two years ago. The survey surveyed a total of 5,500 consumers in eleven European countries, including Germany, France, Great Britain and Italy.

The most popular payment method in Europe is the debit card, used by 40 percent of participants, followed by credit cards at 22 percent. Mobile apps and wallets are used by 14 percent of respondents. These developments show that acceptance of digital payment methods is constantly increasing.

Regional differences and trends

Despite the general trend towards digital payments, cash use remains strongly rooted in certain countries, such as Germany and Romania. However, in the Nordic countries, particularly Sweden, the introduction of digital payment methods such as the national digital wallet Swish, used by over two-thirds of the population, has shown that change is possible.

Other European payment systems also play an important role in this digital evolution. Systems such as BLIK in Poland, TWINT in Switzerland, Bluecode in Austria and iDeal in the Netherlands enable contactless payments, e-commerce, bill payments and online transactions. This development is driven by technological progress, particularly 5G expansion, and the support of government policies such as interledger.org reported.

Partnerships and interoperability

The European Mobile Payment Systems Association (EMPSA) promotes partnerships for cross-border transactions to improve system interoperability. Successful interoperability tests between local payment providers such as Bancomat Pay (Italy), TWINT (Switzerland) and Bluecode (Austria) demonstrate the potential of this collaboration.

For the future, the European Union is creating a digital identity wallet that will enable data storage as well as payments and financial services. These developments suggest that the use of mobile devices for payments is not only increasing, but will continue to grow in the coming years. Payment providers such as Visa and MasterCard are already working with fintech companies to expand the area of ​​contactless and mobile payment services.

In summary, digital payments are on the rise in Europe, while countries like Austria are lagging behind compared to other European countries.