Corona brings a strong plus in card payments, but compared to the rest of Europe, Austrians are still the biggest cash fans.
This is shown by the latest IIS ING International Survey on behalf of ING in Austria. Compared to twelve other surveyed countries in Europe, the use of cash in Austria is still extremely high in some cases. In this country, for example, 78 percent of coffee and snacks are paid for in cash. The average for the twelve European countries is 57 percent. And this despite the fact that the cash payment quota in Austria has fallen significantly compared to the previous year. Austria is still the “cash nation number one. And that despite nationwide contactless payment options with cards and Co.”, says Barbaros Uygun, head of ING in Austria.
And yet the payment behavior is clearly changing – albeit more slowly than in other countries: According to the study, 43 percent of Austrians now use the card more often than before the pandemic because of Corona. The European average is 52 percent.
“The increase to 50 euros when paying without a PIN was an important, sensible step to force card use”, Uygun is convinced and suggests: “As is common in online banking, every bank customer should set their own personal limit for contactless payments can set. ”
Digital services as crisis winners
“Loyal to cash, open to further digitalization in financial transactions”: This is how one could roughly describe the current relationship between Austrians and digital banking, the authors of the study analyze – and see digital services as the winners of the crisis. In the survey, 31 percent of the compatriots surveyed said they now spend more online, while 37 percent shop less in stores.
“For financial service providers this means that we have to offer top performance when walking the tightrope between analog and digital. The question will be how much branch operations are actually still necessary and at what speed the withdrawal can actually take place. Simply close a branch without alternatives To offer is not enough. At the same time, the question arises whether topics such as personal credit advice need an entire branch or should be rethought, “Uygun puts up for discussion and adds:” A good mix of personal advice through small, flexible task forces and a well-functioning, dense ATM network including self-service units – this is how banking operations could look for the next one to two decades. “
The survey was carried out as part of the ING International Survey – a series of studies which, on behalf of the ING Group, regularly sheds light on various aspects relating to the topics of “Saving, personal finances, digitization / banking and living”. For the current survey, the Ipsos Institute surveyed almost 13,000 people aged 18 and over online in 13 European countries (Belgium, Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Romania, Spain, Turkey, the Czech Republic) and the USA . 1,000 people were interviewed in Austria. Survey period: mid to late May 2020.
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