New research shows that digital transactions outweigh cash payments, and Swiss economy shows early signs of full digitalization.
Switzerland has long supported cash, with the average person holding around $10,481 on bills and coins. It is a cultural norm and is valued for privacy and ease. However, a new survey from the Swiss National Bank appears to show that debit cards are the most common payment method to expel cash.
The survey found that 35% of in-store purchases in Switzerland were created with debit cards in 2024, overtaking 30% of cash. This is a big jump from 2017 when only 21% of payments by card and 70% was still cash.
For years, Switzerland held on their cash-based culture, even if digital payments became more popular elsewhere. But now experts say the transition to cashless payments isn’t so surprising.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Switzerland’s economist Alexander Koch said the international comparison “similar to the Netherlands and Scandinavia, indicating that German-speaking countries in particular are very obsessed with cash.” He also said the pandemic “has brought about a move from here.”
Swiss Stubcoin Opportunity
Despite the rising trend in digital payments, Switzerland remains one of the top cash holders in the world. The country ranks second in the largest average cash holding per capita, followed by Luxembourg alone.
Still, the transition from cash continues. SNB’s October announcement that public transport operators are planning to reduce cash acceptance further underscored this trend. In an interview with Crypto.News, Dominic Weibel, head of research at Bitcoin Suisse AG, suggested that Switzerland “shows a wider openness to digital forms of money” which is increasing the adoption of cards in cash.
“Crypto payments remain niche today, but a transition to digital payment methods will be created
Fertile soil for utility, especially given that 8% of the world’s population owns codes. Worldline already supports Crypto with +85,000 merchants, with cities like Lugano, for example, accepting Bitcoin and Stablecoins for everyday trading. ”Dominique Weibel
Weibel also pointed out cities like Lugano. At Lugano, Bitcoin (BTC) and stubcoin are already being accepted into everyday trading, and acceptance is increasing.
“We expect adoption to develop from a novel concept of the retail domain into a broader option, but catalyzes the demand for tokenized dollars at a relatively slower pace than other countries that are shaking domestic currencies.”
Dominique Weibel
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A survey by SNB revealed that 18% of domestic payments are made via mobile payment apps, with credit cards accounting for 14%. To address the growing acceptance of mobile payments, Weibel sees the key role of stubcoins and tokenized assets in Switzerland’s evolving landscape, saying Stablecoins are “inclined to capture the biggest cakes to remove volatile headaches linked to Crypto Assets.”
“While the dollar sect currently boasts a market penetration of 99%, Swiss stubcoin offers a great opportunity. The increasing adoption of mobile payment apps like TWINT already shows an aspiration to embrace new payment technologies.”
Dominique Weibel
The next logical step claims that “we can plug into both mobile apps to streamline payments while unlocking new features such as instant payments, smart contract automation, and distributed financial opportunities.”
I’m not in a hurry with CBDC
Despite the country’s increasing reliance on digital payments, SNB has made it clear it is not intending to rush central banks’ adoption of digital currency, especially as it is cautious about potential costs and privacy concerns associated with digital money.
As SNB senior economist Thomas Moser explained in a 2021 interview with Finews, central banks are wary of replacing CBDCs with CBDCs as “risks outweigh profits compared to existing systems.”
Moser further noted that one of the key factors in Switzerland’s unwillingness to introduce so-called e-francs is its focus on data protection, and that “one advantage of cash is that it can be used to pay completely anonymously.”
“On the other hand, when you pay digitally, you generate a lot of data. It also generates not only financial data, but also data about what you purchased and where you are, whenever and where you are.”
Thomas Moser
As cash usage in Switzerland declined, Weibel pointed to recent developments by Swiss Bank, including the issuance of UBS digital bonds and the aggressive operation of SNB wholesale CBDC pilots. He said institutional involvement with blockchain infrastructure “exemplifies a clear acceleration,” adding that Bitcoin-Swiss AG expects this trend to “seem more institutional verticals in several months or more.”
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