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COVID-19 pandemic increases the divide between cash and cashless payment users in Europe

Author

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  • Radoslaw Kotkowski

    (Narodowy Bank Polski)

  • Michal Polasik

    (Nicolaus Copernicus University)

Abstract

This paper investigates the way in which the COVID-19 pandemic has changed an important aspect of everyday life, viz. how people make payments. The empirical study is based on a survey of over 5,000 respondents from 22 European countries. It shows that consumers who had been making cashless payments prior to the outbreak of the pandemic have been even more likely to do so since it broke out. On the other hand, the consumers who had mostly been paying in cash have often continued to do so. Results indicate that the usage of banking and payment innovations proved to be the catalyst leading to the growth of cashless payment usage. The divide between those who pay in cash and those who do not, therefore, seems to have widened during the pandemic. We found that the probability of more frequent cashless payments as a result of the pandemic differs considerably between countries and therefore depends on local conditions. The results indicate that the pandemic has exacerbated major financial inclusion issues and that this needs to be addressed by policymakers, but also that further analysis of factors differentiating usage of cash and the cashless instrument is needed.

Suggested Citation

  • Radoslaw Kotkowski & Michal Polasik, 2021. "COVID-19 pandemic increases the divide between cash and cashless payment users in Europe," NBP Working Papers 339, Narodowy Bank Polski.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbp:nbpmis:339
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    11. Guerino Ardizzi & Andrea Nobili & Giorgia Rocco, 2020. "A game changer in payment habits: evidence from daily data during a pandemic," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 591, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    12. Jonker, Nicole & van der Cruijsen, Carin & Bijlsma, Michiel & Bolt, Wilko, 2022. "Pandemic payment patterns," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
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    Cited by:

    1. Cronin, David & McInerney, Niall, 2022. "ATM Cash Withdrawals Before, During and After the Covid-19 Pandemic," Economic Letters 6/EL/22, Central Bank of Ireland.
    2. Oleksandr Dluhopolskyi & Olena Pakhnenko & Serhiy Lyeonov & Andrii Semenog & Nadiia Artyukhova & Marta Cholewa-Wiktor & Winczysław Jastrzębski, 2023. "Digital Financial Inclusion: COVID-19 Impacts and Opportunities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-20, January.
    3. Kotkowski, Radoslaw, 2023. "National culture and the demand for physical money during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    4. Justus Meyer & Federica Teppa, 2023. "Euro area consumers' payment behaviour and banking digitalisation," Working Papers 772, DNB.
    5. Ferry Syarifuddin & Toni Bakhtiar, 2022. "The Macroeconomic Effects of an Interest-Bearing CBDC: A DSGE Model," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-33, May.
    6. Vivien Deak & Istvan Nemecsko & Tamas Vegso, 2022. "Payment Habits of the Hungarian Households in 2020," MNB Occasional Papers 2022/143, Magyar Nemzeti Bank (Central Bank of Hungary).
    7. Ueda, Kozo, 2024. "Effects of bank branch/ATM consolidations on cash demand: Evidence from bank account transaction data in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    8. Anna Iwańczuk-Kaliska & Mirosława Kaczmarek & Grzegorz Kotliński, 2023. "Non-cash retail payments in selected banks during the COVID-19 pandemic – the case of Poland," Bank i Kredyt, Narodowy Bank Polski, vol. 54(3), pages 309-334.
    9. Laddawan Kaewkitipong & Charlie Chen & Jiangxue Han & Peter Ractham, 2022. "Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) and Trust Factors for the Continuance Intention of Mobile Payment Services," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-15, November.
    10. Barbara Gawior & Michal Polasik & Josep Lluís del Olmo, 2022. "Credit Card Use, Hedonic Motivations, and Impulse Buying Behavior in Fast Fashion Physical Stores during COVID-19: The Sustainability Paradox," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-16, March.
    11. Wahida Ahmad & Nur Hazimah Amran & Noor Azillah Mohamad Ali & Amir Alfatakh Yusuf, 2023. "A Blessing in Disguise: Covid-19 Pandemic and the Emergence of E-Payment," Information Management and Business Review, AMH International, vol. 15(1), pages 27-36.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19 pandemic; Cash; Cashless payments; Change in payment behaviour;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E41 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Demand for Money
    • E42 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Monetary Sytsems; Standards; Regimes; Government and the Monetary System
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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