For 59% in Luxembourg, it’s important to be able to pay with cash

Although the share of online payments in people’s day-to-day payments has increased, nearly two-thirds of consumers in the euro area want to keep cash as a payment option, says a study from the European Central Bank. In Luxembourg, 59% say it’s “fairly important” or “very important” to have the option of paying with cash.

The study on the payment attitudes of consumers in the euro area (Space), carried out by the European Central Bank, looks at the payment habits of consumers in euro area countries. The was released on 19 December 2024 and looked at how people use different payment methods, their preferences and how consumers perceive the accessibility and ease of use of these methods.

“Consumers are increasingly using digital payments and the share of cash payments is continuing to decline as a result,” said the ECB’s report. “This trend is being supported by a shift from purchases at the point of sale to online purchases. At the same time, cash remains the payment instrument used most often at the point of sale and for person-to-person payments in the euro area. The survey results also show that although most people prefer to use cards or other electronic means of payment, nearly two-thirds wish to keep cash as a payment option and that share has increased recently.”

Here are a few takeaways from the survey and how the behaviour of people in Luxembourg compares to other countries.

Online payments make up 23% of payments

The share of online payments in everyday payments was highest in Lithuania (29%), Croatia (28%) and Austria (28%). In Luxembourg, online payments account for 23% of consumers’ day-to-day payments, found the 2024 edition of the study. In 2019, this figure stood at 13%.

Around half (51%) of online payments were for values less than €1,000. Younger consumers, noted the ECB, made online payments more often compared to other age groups.

Cash on the decline

The covid-19 pandemic affected people’s payment behaviours, leading to a rapid decline in the use of cash. That being said, “cash was still the most frequently used payment method in physical locations: more than half (52%) of POS [point of sale] payments in the euro area were carried out using cash in 2024.” That figure has declined from 59% in 2022, 72% in 2019 and 79% in 2016. On the other hand, the share of card payments increased from 34% in 2022 to 39% in 2024. The use of a mobile app for payments has also increased (from 3% in 2022 to 6% in 2024).

In Luxembourg, however, the share of the number of payments using cash (37%) was 15 percentage points lower than the euro area average (52%). Just under half of payments (49%) were made with card.

The largest number of payments made with cash were in Malta (67%), Slovenia (64%), Austria (62%) and Italy (61%). On the other end of the scale, only 22% of payments in the Netherlands and 27% of payments in Finland were made with cash. More than half of payments (56% in the Netherlands and 57% in Finland) were made using a card.

The use of cash increased with age, said the report.

But still important to have the cash option

“More than half of the respondents in each of the euro area countries, with the exception of the Netherlands (46%), considered the option to pay with cash very or fairly important,” the ECB said in its report. “This includes countries like Belgium, Luxembourg and Finland, where consumers used other payment options for the majority of POS purchases. This share has remained more or less stable since the previous survey in most countries. Cyprus is an exception with a decrease of seven percentage points, while Luxembourg recorded the highest increase of eight percentage points.”

In the grand duchy, 29% of respondents said it was “very important” to have the option to pay with cash; 30% said it was “fairly important. One-quarter (26%) said it was “not so important” and 15% said it was “not important at all.”

Person-to-person payments: 23% use cash

When it comes to peer-to-peer payments, 23% of payments in Luxembourg were made with cash, 32% via cards and mobile apps, 26% using credit transfers, 3% via instant payments and 11% using other means. In Germany, 74% of person-to-person payments were done using cash.

€82 in cash readily available

As part of the survey, respondents were asked about the amount of readily available cash they had at the start of the day (whether in a wallet, pocket or bag). Cyprus and Luxembourg had the highest median cash holdings (€82), while the Netherlands (€35) and Finland (€47) had the lowest. The median for the euro area was €59.

Interviews for the 2024 edition of the Space survey were conducted in Q3 2023 and in Q2 2024. In Luxembourg, 1,069 people participated in the study; in the euro area overall, 40,981 people participated.

Find the full report .