opinion poll
Trend towards cashless payments, especially among younger people
A smartphone is held in front of a cash register terminal. You can pay with the corresponding app.) Photo: Franziska Gabbert / dpa-tmn / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Germany a «country of cash payers»? This is probably only true for parts of the population, as a recent survey shows.
In Germany, there is a trend towards paying without notes and coins, especially among younger people.
More than half (53 percent) of 16 to 59 year olds stated in an Allensbach survey that they prefer to pull out a card and / or smartphone at the cash register. Among the over 60-year-olds, only 24 percent use such cashless payment methods, as the survey published on Wednesday on behalf of the German Payment Systems Initiative shows.
However, the representative survey of 1,074 people aged 16 and over reveals a change among the elderly as well: In 2018, 12 percent of people over 60 said they preferred to pay by card, but today there are already twice as many.
Contactless payment is the trend
Contactless payment, which retailers advertised for hygiene reasons during the pandemic, is enjoying increasing popularity in all age groups. The purchase is paid for in passing. This is possible with girocards and credit cards that are equipped with a corresponding chip. Money can also be transferred contactlessly using a smartphone or smartwatch with services such as Apple Pay and Google Pay or banking apps.
While the proportion of those who pay contactless with their Girocard was 7 percent in 2017, it is now 62 percent. A further 21 percent of Girocard holders say they can imagine using this function in the future.
When it comes to new digital technologies, 16 to 29 year olds in particular are willing to innovate. Payment by smartphone is particularly popular with them. Almost one in six (15 percent) in this age group says that they prefer to pay at the checkout with their smartphone.
“Payment behavior at the checkout is still split between the generations,” concludes the German Payment Systems Initiative based on the survey. “But the transition to the map can already be seen among the over 60s.”