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Could coronavirus end Austria’s love affair with cash?

Along with the rest of German-speaking Europe, cash payments have remained stubbornly popular in Austria. But with card payments on the rise due to the pandemic, could that be set to change permanently?

Published: 27 January 2021 11:05 CET
Could coronavirus end Austria’s love affair with cash?
Austria loves cash, but will the pandemic change all that? Photo: ALEX HALADA / AFP

Unlike Scandinavia, the Benelux countries or the British Isles, German-speaking Europe remains keen on cash. 

For a number of historical reasons, cash is still king in Austria, Germany and much of Switzerland – or at least until the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Austria loves cash so much that it tried to make a right to cash payments part of the constitution in 2019. 

READ MORE: Austria's love of cash in poll campaign spotlight 

While the effort ultimately failed, it showed just how much Austria loves that cold, hard stuff. 

A pre-pandemic study showed that Austria are the kings of cash, with 83 percent of Austrians using cash regularly, compared with 75 percent of Germans and 71 percent of Swiss. 

This is compared with card leaders such as Sweden, where cash is expected to disappear completely by 2030. 

The number of domestic card payments increased by 20 percent in 2020 in Austria, rising from 900 million payments to 1.1 billion, according to Payment Services Austria (PSA). 

In the same period, foreign card transactions also increased in Austria in 2020, crossing the 1.2 billion mark for the first time. 

Contactless and mobile payments are also experiencing a dramatic rise in Austria. 

Similar trends have been observed in Germany and Switzerland, leading many to ask whether the shift is set to become permanent. 

Money, cash, woes?

Concerns over the cleanliness of cash and a desire to avoid trips to the ATM have been flagged as a major reason for the change. 

The number of cash withdrawals from ATMs in Austria fell significantly, from 137 million to 100 million in 2020. 

Contactless payments increased by 34 percent in 2020 compared to 2019, according to PSA. 

READ MORE: Could coronavirus end the Swiss love affair with cash? 

In March 2020, Austria also made it easier to pay with contactless cards by increasing the maximum amount to be paid without entering a pin from €25 to €50. 

Retailers pushed for the change in a bid to reduce the risk of coronavirus transmission and the limit looks to remain in place for the foreseeable future. 

According to the PSA, the card is here to stay, even when and if life returns to normal after the pandemic. 

Harald Flatscher, Managing Director of PSA, said “the steady upward trend also shows how much the use of the card has become part of people's everyday lives.”

A permanent shift to card?

There are however signs that the trends might be temporary. 

While 2020 saw an increase in card payments, it actually saw a decrease in the amount spent overall, which could amount to a temporary trend. 

Another big change is the lack of tourist traffic, making it hard to determine if any shift is actually permanent.  

READ MORE: Will the coronavirus pandemic speed up the end of cash in Germany? 

Writing in Austria’s Der Standard on Wednesday, January 27th, Muzayen Al-Youssef outlined the concerns of many Austrians when pointing to the traceability of card. 

“Transparency also has consequences. Think, for example, of so-called credit scoring, in which the creditworthiness of a customer is calculated based on the available data,” he said.

“If you drink too much alcohol, in extreme cases you could suddenly no longer finance your own apartment.

“Does a bank really always have to know when – and, by the way, where – its customers bought sex toys, alcohol or cigarettes?”

 

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ENERGY

EXPLAINED: How high will heating bills be this winter in Germany?

The cost of energy is expected to rise again this coming winter, even though the government's price cap is supposed to be in effect until April 2024. Here's what households can expect.

Published: 31 October 2023 10:31 CET
Updated: 5 November 2023 22:45 CET
EXPLAINED: How high will heating bills be this winter in Germany?

The onset of winter will raise concerns for many in Germany about the cost of heating their homes, with memories of last year’s rocketing prices and concerns over domestic gas supply resurfacing. 

But, compared to last year, the energy prices have now largely stabilised, though they are still higher than in 2021.

The stabilisation in prices is partly thanks to the government’s energy price cap which came into force earlier this year to cushion the blow of soaring energy prices by capping electricity costs at 40 cents per kilowatt-hour and natural gas at 12 cents.

READ ALSO: Germany looks to extend energy price cap until April 2024

The federal government plans to maintain this cap until the end of April, though this could be extended even longer, if necessary. 

How high are heating costs expected to go this year?

For the current year, experts from co2online expect somewhat lower heating costs than last year.

Heating with gas, for example, is expected to be 11 percent cheaper in 2023 than in 2022, costing €1,310 per year for a flat of 70 square metres. 

The cost of heating with wood pellets will drop by 17 percent to €870 per year, and heating with heating oil will cost 19 percent less and amount to €1,130.

According to co2online, the costs for heating with a heat pump will drop the most – by 20 percent to €1,1105. The reason for this, according to co2online, is a wider range of heat pump electricity tariffs.

Tax hikes in January

Starting January next year, the government will raise the value-added tax on natural gas from seven to nineteen percent.

Alongside this, the CO2 price, applicable when refuelling and heating, will also increase.

According to energy expert Thomas Engelke from the Federal Consumer Association, these increases will mean that a small single-family household with three or four people that heats with gas would then pay about €240 more per year for gas.

“That’s a lot”, he said. 

Another additional cost factor to consider is that network operators also want to raise prices. However, the federal government plans to allocate €5.5 billion to cushion this increase for consumers as much as possible, so how such cost increases will ultimately affect consumers is currently hard to estimate.

READ ALSO: Why people in Germany are being advised to switch energy suppliers

Overall, it can be said that, from January, consumers will have to brace themselves for higher energy costs, even though massive increases are currently not expected.

Consumer advocate Engelke advised customers to closely examine where potential savings could be made this upcoming winter: “Those who are now signing a new gas or electricity contract should inform themselves and possibly switch. Currently, you can save a few hundred euros. It’s worth it. On the other hand, you should also try to save as much energy as possible this winter.”

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