CYPRUS: Cypriots prefer to pay with cash rather than plastic

Despite the digital age, Cypriots and Greeks prefer to use cash to carry out their transactions, according to European Central Bank data.

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 ECB's report called "Trends and developments in the use of euro cash over the past ten years", reveals data regarding the transactions of households in the eurozone, and their choice of payment method.

Cypriots make more than half of their transactions (54%) by paying cash on the nose while transactions made with a credit card amount to 34%.

Greece leads the list of EU countries in the use of cash, with a relatively high 67%, while only 19% of all household transactions are made with a card. Slovenia is in second place with cash transactions amounting to 65% and transactions carried out with the use of a card reaching 25%.

In Slovakia, cash is preferred in 56% of transactions and cards in 14%.

As revealed by ECB data, citizens in more developed economies tend to use cash to a limited extent.

In France, just 3% of transactions are carried out using cash while cards are used in 67% of transactions. In Belgium the figures are 6% and 65% respectively, and in Germany 22% and 51%.

According to the ECB, the bigger the amount consumers have to pay, the less likely they are to pay in cash. However, not all consumers behave in the same way with regard to the limits they pay by cash, cards or other means.

Only 49% of citizens of the 17 countries of the eurozone said that their choice of payment depends on the amount to be paid, with about one-third of the respondents saying they usually pay amounts below EUR 20 in cash.

On the other hand, 50% of respondents said their choice of payment method is not usually dependent on the amount to be paid, while 23% said they always pay in cash, and 27% usually pay with cards regardless of the amount.

More than 50% of respondents in Estonia and Finland said they usually use cards, regardless of the amount, while less than 20% of the respondents do so in Cyprus, Malta, Greece, Italy and Austria.