Banks, Italians prefer cash: daily withdrawals of 1 billion euros
Cash continues to be highly appreciated by Italians. Every day, approximately one billion euros are withdrawn from ATMs: in 2022, total withdrawals reached 350 billion euros, rising to 360 billion in 2023, with an increase of 10 billion (+2%). Compared to the 352 billion in 2021, the total increase is 18 billion. In practice, one billion euros are withdrawn every day. These data, collected by the Unimpresa research center and analyzed on the basis of information from the Bank of Italy, demonstrate that the pandemic has not reduced the use of cash at all.
Turning to digital payments in Europe, as reported by Milano Finanza, significant differences emerge between the various countries. Italy is at the bottom of the ranking, with 199.5 payment transactions per capita, indicative of a low use of alternative instruments to cashsuch as credit cards, bank transfers and cheques. The average in the Eurozone is 370 transactions per inhabitant, with Spain at 290, Germany at 329 and France at 424. Countries such as the Netherlands (670), Finland (598) and Estonia (488) are at the top of the ranking. Luxembourg stands out with an exceptional average of 8,738 digital transactions per inhabitant.
In the digital payments sector, transactions totalled 11 trillion euros last year, with bank transfers accounting for 94% of this amount, while the rest is split between checks and payment cards.. The use of cards has increased significantly: in 2023, transactions for 426 billion euros were recorded, compared to 382 billion in 2022, with an increase of 11.5%. The number of cards in circulation has also grown, exceeding 120 million, with an increase of over 5 million compared to 2022 (+4.5%). Credit cards increased by 300 thousand units (+1.4%), debit cards by 2.7 million (+4.2%) and prepaid cards by 2.1 million (+7.1%), increasingly used by parents to manage the weekly expenses of their minor children.
#Italy #home #cash #withdrawals #billion #day #Europe #digital #payments