Young people use cash less and less. Only 19% use them as their main payment method, while 22% use Bizum, a . This figure reduces as the people questioned get older. Thus, only 2% of those over 65 years of age use it as their main means of payment, a figure that rises to 8% of those between 45 and 64 years old and 15% of those between 30 and 44, according to the V Barometer on the need for cash permanence presented by the demographic company GAD3 and Plataforma Denaria (an association that defends the use of cash) this Monday. Even so, the most popular form of payment continues to be bank cards, as stated by 42% of people between 18 and 29 years old.
At the moment, these immediate transfers are far from becoming the main payment method for citizens, but there are signs that they are gaining ground. 52% of the more than 1,000 respondents say that cards are their main form of payment. However, the two traditional media have reduced their use in the last year, five and three points respectively, while the use of Bizum has grown four. Given these data, Narciso Michavila, president of GAD3, stated that “what is going to replace cash is not going to be plastic, but rather silicon,” in reference to new technologies.
One of the novelties in this sense is the digital euro, which the . According to the data from the survey presented, 54% claim to have not heard of it, compared to 46% who have heard something about this project. In addition, it raises questions about privacy. 80% consider that it will increase the Government’s control over payments, although half see it as a complement to cash, but that it will not end up replacing it.
Despite the , more than 80% of citizens believe that payment with coins and bills is “necessary.” Thus, three out of four Spaniards highlight that this form of payment is accessible to the entire population, a similar percentage (74%) to that which thinks that it guarantees people’s privacy and that it is safe from fraud or cyberattacks (73%). Furthermore, 83% of those surveyed are against it disappearing, but with differences by age. Thus, 17% of the youngest do consider that it will cease to exist, a figure that drops to 6% for those over 65 years of age.
The study also points out that the importance of cash has been seen. 35% of those surveyed indicate that they now keep a greater amount of cash at home. Furthermore, 15% place coins and bills as the second most important resource in a crisis situation, or energy and lighting. Furthermore, those surveyed assure that the factors that most impede the access and use of cash are the closure of bank offices, the imposition of public administrations to only collect payments through transfers, and the commissions for their handling.
The use of this medium also changes depending on income. Thus, half of those with incomes of less than 1,200 euros say that their preferred method of making purchases is cash, a figure that is reduced to 20% if people earn more than 3,500 euros. Something similar happens with the level of education. 23% of people use cash as their main form of payment, a figure that rises to 50% for those who have not completed secondary education.
