Mobile payments in 2022 as popular as cash at the till

Last year, people in the Netherlands made contactless payments at the point of sale with a mobile phone or wearable as often as they paid in cash. In 2022, the share of payments using these newer methods rose to 21%, while the use of banknotes and coins stabilised at 20% of the total. Including contactless variants, debit card payments therefore stabilised at 80% of purchases. School pupils, people aged 65 and over and those who struggle to make ends meet are particularly likely to continue paying in cash. These findings come from the annual joint study by De Nederlandsche Bank and the Dutch Payments Association.

Use of cash and debit cards stabilised

In 2022, Dutch consumers made more point-of-sale purchases than in the previous year for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Shops were able to open more often in 2022 than in 2021, while consumer prices were an average of 10% higher due to sharply rising inflation. As a result, both the number and value of point-of-sale purchases increased in 2022. The absolute number of debit card and cash payments also rose.

In relative terms, however, the use of cash and debit cards stabilised in 2022: as in 2021, around 20% of all purchases were paid for in cash and 80% by debit card. The share of point-of-sale spending paid in cash increased by one percentage point in 2022 to 15% of the total value. It was previously unclear whether the sharp decline in cash use during the coronavirus pandemic was a temporary change in behaviour, but it has since become clear that this was not the case. For many people, the habit of paying by debit card has endured. Compared with other euro countries, cash is used relatively little in the Netherlands.

New payment methods are gaining popularity

Consumers are increasingly using newer payment methods. Contactless payment by mobile phone or wearable, such as a smartwatch or fitness tracker, took off in 2022: 21% of all point-of-sale payments were made contactlessly without a physical debit card. This was seven percentage points more than in 2021 and meant that almost as many purchases were paid for in this way as in cash. One important difference is that cash payments were made by a large group of people in the Netherlands, while contactless payments by mobile phone or wearable were made by a small group. This shows that people who pay contactlessly without a debit card use this method more intensively. The increased use of mobile phones and wearables at the till is now also reflected in Dutch consumers’ payment preferences: almost one in five say they prefer to pay this way. At the start of 2020, this was fewer than one in ten consumers.

People who struggle to make ends meet pay in cash more often

There are major differences in the use of cash across society. People aged 12 to 18 and those aged 65 and over pay for around a quarter of all point-of-sale purchases in cash. People who say they struggle to make ends meet also use cash relatively often. They pay for almost a quarter of all point-of-sale purchases in cash, compared with around 16% among those who say they can easily make ends meet (see Figure 2). A well-known reason for cash use in this group is that it helps people retain greater control over their spending. During 2022, a growing number of consumers said they were struggling to make ends meet, probably because of sharply rising inflation.

See the full factsheet Point-of-Sale Payments in 2022 for all findings from the joint study by DNB and the Dutch Payments Association into the use of cash and electronic payment methods in the Netherlands for point-of-sale and person-to-person payments in 2022.