Overview
- An Allensbach study reports 47% of Germans paid by card on their last purchase versus 41% with cash, with under‑30s showing strong mobile use at 42%.
- Forty‑two percent of respondents favor requiring shops and restaurants to accept at least one common card, and 45% of younger adults say cash‑only policies are annoying.
- Commerzbank/Ipsos finds about half of SMEs cite technical hurdles for digital payments, including internet stability and data security, while nearly four in ten find offerings confusing and setup costly or time‑consuming.
- Consumer advocate Ron Perduss warns that frequent card and PayPal use can mask outflows and lead to overdrafts, with typical Dispo rates around 12–14% at many Sparkassen and Volksbanken and roughly under 10% at ING, DKB and Comdirect; tolerated overdraws range roughly 7–17%.
- A widely shared photo of a cash‑only shop restricting €200 notes drew criticism as Austria’s 2025 deposit reform adds workload and costs for small retailers handling returns of single‑use containers.