Cash Ranking: Ireland takes fourth spot out of ten eurozone countries

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Cash is still king. At least, it is for a lot of Irish people. Just this week, a survey by An Post revealed that young people are increasingly adopting cash as their preferred payment method. Driven not only by TikTok saving crazes but also by an ever growing appreciation for the hassle-free and untraceable nature of cash over cards, cash appears to be making a comeback of sorts after hygiene concerns during the pandemic have largely been forgotten.

European savings platform Raisin Bank has now compiled a ranking of the most cash-crazy countries in the eurozone. Ireland takes fourth spot out of ten countries ranked, with a score of 6.75 out of 10. Positive indicators for cash are large numbers of small and medium-sized companies both accepting and preferring cash to cards. Why doesn’t Ireland take top spot? Among other reasons, the very low number of ATMs per 100,000 inhabitants (45) compared to, for example, Austria (168).

Twenty per cent of the ranking is made up by the preferences and payment types accepted by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Many SMEs in Ireland still prefer cash over any other method of payment. Of all SMEs surveyed, one in three mention cash as their preferred form of tender. Virtually all SMEs surveyed still accept cash payments (96%). None of the other countries surveyed reported higher numbers of cash acceptance.

Many companies still prefer cash, and virtually all establishments accept cash as a payment method. Just over one in two payments (54%) at points of sale are still made in cash in Ireland. A massive difference with, for example, Finland and The Netherlands, where only one in five POS payments are made by cash. Top spot is taken by the Italians, who still pay over two out of three transactions at registers using cash.

When it comes to the number of ATMs relative to the population, Ireland lags far behind most other countries surveyed. With the total number of ATMs provided by the five major banks just falling short of 3,000, there are just 45 ATMs per 100,000 inhabitants. This stands in stark contrast to the number of ATMs in countries such as Austria (168 per 100,000) and Portugal (163), but still puts Ireland ahead of countries such as, again, Finland (37) and The Netherlands (33).

An important ranking factor for this analysis revolves around personal cash preferences. The most recent data available on Irish consumers indicates that cash payments are preferred by 28% of consumers; 54% of consumers indicate a clear preference for card payments. 18% of respondents do not have a clear preference either way. This puts Ireland in third spot of all countries surveyed.

When it comes to societal perceptions of the importance of cash, Ireland ranks equally high. Almost two-thirds of respondents (64%) value the option of cash payments, with one in three (33%) indicating that it is very important that cash remains accepted. Only in the Netherlands do a minority of consumers indicate that cash options remain very or fairly important.

In our ranking, out of a total of ten points, Ireland receives a total score of 6.75. This puts Ireland just behind Spain and Germany and far behind Austria, which takes a total of 8.10 points. The countries that are clearly most ready for a cash-free society are The Netherlands (1.55) and Finland (1.85), with a very sizable gap to the other countries in this ranking.

Eoghan O’Hara, financial expert with Raisin Bank, is not overly surprised by the results: “Cash is still an integral part of the daily lives of many. Consumers still value many characteristics of cash payments. Card payments are more hygienic and generally quicker, but cash is still highly convenient for tipping and personal payments. Moreover, from a personal finance perspective, cash can help us stay on budget and in touch with our expenses.”

In compiling the overall ranking, each country was assigned a ranking of 1 through 10 on each individual ranking factor. Individual ranking scores weighted as follows: Cash acceptance SMEs (10%); cash preference SMEs (10%); share of cash payments at POS (20%); number of ATMs per capita (15%); cash as the preferred payment method (25%); importance of being to pay by cash (20%).

All data collected in the week of November 11. Data on cash acceptance and preference of SMEs collected from the 2024 European Central Bank (ECB) survey on the use of cash by companies within the eurozone. Data on the share of cash transactions at points of sale, as well as consumer attitudes and preferences surrounding cash payments, collected from the most-recent ECB SPACE survey 2022. Data on the number of ATMs per 100,000 inhabitants collected from the most-recent World Bank data.