The latest European Payment Study by management and technology consultancy BearingPoint reveals significant shifts in payment behavior across nine European countries. While cash usage continues to dominate transactions in German-speaking countries, it is steadily declining across the continent. In Germany, Austria, and Switzerland cash remains the most frequently used payment method, accounting for 69%, 73% and 57% of transactions, respectively. In contrast, the Nordic countries, particularly Sweden with 28% and Denmark with 35%, show significantly lower cash usage, highlighting a pronounced difference compared to other countries. Overall, the survey reveals that the frequency of cash usage has declined in almost all surveyed countries compared to the previous year.

Awareness of central bank digital currencies on the rise

The digital euro has achieved relatively high awareness, with only one-third of respondents having never heard of it. The situation is somewhat different for the central bank digital currencies (subsequently referred to as CBDCs) in Sweden, Denmark, and Switzerland. In these countries, four out of ten respondents are unfamiliar with CBDCs. Respondents primarily view the digital euro and the CBDC as a complement to existing payment methods.

One in three respondents would use the digital euro

On a country average, one in three respondents would use the digital euro, with one in five ready to use it even multiple times a week. This shows a significant difference compared to the non-euro countries Sweden and Denmark, where only one in four respondents would use a central bank digital currency and less than one in ten would use it multiple times a week. As the survey results make clear, countries with high cash usage are also more likely to use the digital euro more frequently.

Christian Bruck, Partner at BearingPoint and Payments expert: “Cash usage remains at a high level compared to other payment methods in European countries. It is currently unforseeable that cash will lose its significant role in Europe, even though the frequency of cash usage has decreased compared to the previous year. What’s interesting is that awareness of the digital euro continues to grow. The fact that the digital euro would be used regularly by an average of one in three people highlights the potential of this payment method.”

Online shopping remains the most favored use case for the digital euro

As in the previous year, online shopping remains the preferred use case for the digital euro or CBDC, with an average of 37% across countries. However, the extent varies from country to country; Ireland is the leader with 48%, followed by Austria with 42%, which recorded the highest increase of 6 percentage points compared to the previous year and is now ahead of Germany (38%). With 26%, the lowest use of online shopping is reported in Sweden.

As the second most important use case, in-store shopping is cited with an average of 28% across countries. The use of the digital euro for money transfers to friends is most prevalent in Ireland (36%) and Finland (34%).

The free-of-charge usage criteria remains the top scorer for the digital euro

On a country average, the ranking of criteria for using the digital euro/CBDC has remained the same compared to last year. Being free of charge (43%) and accepted everywhere (37%) are still the leading objective requirements. Only one in five respondents would consider a high level of user experience as a reason for using the digital euro.

Trust in banks for digital euro transaction data is ten times higher than in technology companies

At 55%, respondents have a high level of trust in the banking sector to collect and store digital euro transaction data, compared to only 5% for technology companies such as Apple, Google, and Amazon.

Dr. Robert Bosch, Partner and global leader Banking & Capital Markets at BearingPoint: “The survey shows that more and more Europeans are getting involved with the digital euro. Expectations for its use are becoming more concrete and vary from country to country. The banking sector is clearly favored for storing and recording transaction data. When it comes to central bank digital currencies, the banking sector could leverage this momentum to strengthen its position with end customers.”