Cash is and remains the most popular means of payment in Austria. For 93 percent, this is the ‘optimal means of payment’ in the office store and 95 percent cannot imagine a world without cash, according to a study by the Austrian National Bank (OeNB).
On average, Mr and Mrs Austrians have 102 euros in cash in their wallets, in 2021 this was 95 euros. And it should remain that way: for 64 percent, cash should remain important in the future.
In addition to cash, payment cards with and without code entry are also very popular in stationary retail, representing 84 percent of all payments, 88 percent and 76 percent respectively. Payment apps, on the other hand, are significantly less in demand: the approval rate here is less than 30 percent. However, the acceptance of this payment option also depends on the age of the user.
Measured by the number of transactions, 63 percent of all retail transactions are in cash and 30 percent are by PIN. In terms of transaction volume, the majority (48 percent) consists of coins and banknotes. However, the difference with the transaction volume with the debit card has shrunk to two percentage points.
If the bill is less than ten euros, consumers use cash for 77 percent of their purchases. In terms of value, this accounts for 36 percent of transactions. But for bills between 50 and 100 euros, 52 percent of respondents use payment cards (47 percent use debit cards, five percent use credit cards).
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
