Anyone who’s spent time in Switzerland will be aware that cash is still used often – which is not the case in many other countries.

But a new study shows that fewer people are using notes and coins to pay for everyday goods. 

Cash payments fell significantly for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, according to the latest Swiss Payment Monitor for 2023 published on Thursday by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) and the University of St. Gallen.

READ ALSO: ‘Cash is freedom’: Why do the Swiss love coins and banknotes so much?

During the pandemic, cashless payment methods became widespread across Switzerland, fuelled by the World Health Organisation saying card or contactless payments should be encouraged to try and slow the spread of the virus. 

But in 2022 cash made a comeback among the Swiss, gaining ground as a payment method once again. 

However, in 2023 the number of cash payments fell noticeably again since 2020 – dropping by 3.2 percent. In 2023, the debit card was the most frequently used method of payment overall in Switzerland, accounting for 29.3 percent of all transactions. 

Cash was in second place among payment methods, accounting for a quarter of the number of transactions – but only just ahead of payments using mobile devices such as mobile phones, tablets or smartwatches (23.3 percent).

Debit card gains ground for on-site payments

When it comes to on-site payments, the debit card came out on top both in terms of turnover, with a share of 41.2 percent (+3.5 percentage points), and in terms of the number of transactions with 37 percent (+2.1 percentage points).

Credit cards follow in second place in so-called face-to-face business with a 29.1 percent share of sales (-3.2 percentage points) and third place in terms of the number of transactions with 21.6 percent (-0.4 percentage points).

This includes payments with e-wallets such as Apple Pay, Samsung Pay or Google Pay, where a debit or credit card is stored.

“Around one in three credit card payments and 13 percent of all debit card payments are now made on the move with stored payment cards, for example via Apple Pay, Samsung Pay or Google Pay,” said ZHAW payment methods expert Marcel Stadelmann.

With a share of 29.2 percent (-2.9 percentage points), cash is still the second most commonly used payment method for on-site transactions. 

Meanwhile, following strong growth between November 2022 and May 2023, Twint payments linked to a bank account – i.e. mobile payments in the true sense of the word – increased slightly to a share of 7.2 percent (+0.3 percentage points) of transactions in face-to-face business.

READ MORE: Cashless payments in Switzerland: What is Twint and how does it work?

Different attitudes to cash

A total of 84 percent of those surveyed for the Monitor rated access to cash as good in Switzerland. However, 46 percent noted a deterioration in recent years, according to the Monitor researchers.

Attitudes towards the possible abolition of cash are constantly changing: the proportion of those who are neither in favour of nor against getting rid of cash has been going down continuously.

Instead, there has been an increase to 44.3 percent in the proportion of the population who are clearly against getting rid of cash payments. Older respondents are more strongly opposed to this move.

“It is interesting that more and more respondents are against the abolition of cash, but at the same time it is being used less and less often for payments,” said researcher Tobias Trütsch.

A representative sample of 1,700 people were interviewed for the Monitor.

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