Swiss consumers still love their cash above all the alternatives available to them in the digital age. The cashless society so far remains but a concept of a distant future.

Cash is king – it is in Switzerland for sure. Swiss consumers are paying for 70 percent of their shopping in cash. For the remaining 30 percent of their transactions, they use credit and debit cards and for a tiny part only one of the new digital payment apps such as Twint. These are the findings of a survey published by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) on Thursday.

The average person in Switzerland has 133 francs ($135) in cash in his pocket, plus two different non-cash payment solutions, mostly debit and credit cards. Debit cards are being used for 22 percent of all transactions, credit cards for 5 percent.

Cash Forever?

The remaining 3 percent of transactions are completed by use of payment apps or contactless systems – a very low level, the central bank stated in its report. The monetary authority of Switzerland made a number of considerations about how the alternatives to cash may develop in future. About half of the surveyed consumers have no intention of changing their cash-habits. The SNB concluded from this that new payment solutions weren’t necessarily going to replace cash, but other existing non-cash systems.

The survey of 2,000 Swiss consumers also revealed that they are using cash and payment apps mainly for small transactions. The place of the transaction (i.e. type of shop) and the ease of use also influence the preference of the method employed.

And at Home

In short, the Swiss have retained their love for notes and coins. They also like the smaller denomination notes of 10 and 20 francs.

People also tend to have cash at home, but – thankfully – mostly amounts of less than 1,000 francs.