Almost half of all point of sale transactions in Estonia were done with cash in 2016, according to the European Central Banks' Occasional Paper Series: The use of cash by households in the EU Area.
This is a small percentage in comparison to the rest of the EU area where on average, 75% of POS transactions took place with cash. Yet, in Estonia, at almost half of all POS transactions, cash is still king.
The survey results not only “challenge the perception that cash is rapidly being replaced by cashless means of payment,” but also confirm that cash is still the predominant payment instrument across the Eurozone at a POS level.
Key findings related to Estonia include
- In 2016 the Netherlands was the only euro area country where consumers used payment cards more often than cash. They carried out 55% of all transactions using a payment card, while in Estonia consumers carried out an equal number of transactions by cash and card, on average. (p. 22)
- The Netherlands, Estonia and Finland had the lowest shares of cash transactions, ranging between 45% and 54% of all payments at POS. (p. 19)
- Cash payments accounted for 31% of the total value of POS transactions in Estonia last year.
- The average card transaction value was the highest in Luxembourg, Malta and Germany, [... and] lowest in Slovakia, Estonia and Latvia where it ranged from €16.05 to €14.33, indicating that consumers in these countries use cards for relatively low-value payments. (p.21)
The only other recent paper estimating the value and number of payment behaviour around Europe dates from 2008, making this ECB research paper essential reading material for policy makers, key stakeholders and journalists navigating the discussion on cash.
