AGI – Italy brings up the rear in the euro area in the use of payment systems other than cash, which remains the preferred means of paying and making purchases by Italian families. This is what emerges from a report by the Unimpresa Study Center, which reworked data from the Bank of Italy.
With 199 payments per capita per year without paper money, Italy, according to data relating to 2023, is last in the euro area, in a ranking that sees Luxembourg on the podium (8,738 transactions per citizen), Lithuania ( 1,041) and the Netherlands (670). Cash, however, as well as in Italy, is still particularly appreciated in Greece, where cashless operations are only 230, and then in Malta (234), Slovakia (251), Slovenia (251) and Spain. Italy brings up the tail, in the euro area, in the use of payment systems other than cash, which remains the preferred means of paying and making purchases by Italian families. This is what emerges from a report by the Unimpresa Study Center, which reworked data from the Bank of Italy.
With 199 payments per capita per year without paper money, Italy, according to data relating to 2023, is last in the euro area, in a ranking that sees Luxembourg on the podium (8,738 transactions per citizen), Lithuania ( 1,041) and the Netherlands (670). Cash, however, as well as in Italy, is still particularly appreciated in Greece, where cashless operations are only 230, and then in Malta (234), Slovakia (251), Slovenia (251) and Spain.
According to the report by the Unimpresa Study Centre, from fourth place downwards, the ranking of the most advanced countries in terms of the use of electronic or digital payments is as follows: Ireland (661 transactions per capita per year), Finland (598 ), Estonia (487), Belgium (483), France (424), Latvia (389), Germany (328), Austria (304) and Portugal; Cyprus is not fully captured by official statistics.
“Italy continues to rely to a large extent on cash for daily transactions. This phenomenon – comments the president of Unimpresa, Giovanna Ferrara – can be attributed to various factors, including a less developed digital infrastructure network, reduced trust in electronic systems and financial education that could be improved to encourage the adoption of more modern payment methods. Apart from some well-known problems linked to tax evasion undoubtedly connected to the circulation of paper money, it is not correct However, neither generalize nor criminalize those who are not yet particularly accustomed to the use of digital or electronic tools”.
And he adds “Imposing credit cards or bank transfers by law seems to us to be in conflict with the principle of freedom and free economic circulation enshrined in our Constitution”. According to the report by the Unimpresa Study Center, from fourth place downwards, the ranking of the most advanced countries in terms of the use of electronic or digital payments is as follows: Ireland (661 operations per capita per year), Finland (598), Estonia (487), Belgium (483), France (424 ), Latvia (389), Germany (328), Austria (304) and Portugal; Cyprus is not fully captured by official statistics. “Italy continues to rely to a large extent on cash for daily transactions. This phenomenon – comments the president of Unimpresa, Giovanna Ferrara – can be attributed to various factors, including a less developed digital infrastructure network, a reduced in electronic systems and financial education that could be improved to encourage the adoption of more modern payment methods. Beyond some, well-known problems linked to tax evasion undoubtedly connected to the circulation of paper money, not it is correct, however, to generalize nor criminalize those who are not yet particularly accustomed to the use of digital or electronic tools”. And he adds “Imposing credit cards or bank transfers by law seems to us to be in contrast with the principle of freedom and free economic circulation enshrined in our Constitution”.
