2024’s Hottest European Payment Trends: Digital Wallets, Crypto Surge & the Death of Cash

Europe's payment landscape is undergoing a radical transformation—and traditional banks are scrambling to keep up. Here's what's dominating the scene in 2024:

Digital wallets go mainstream (while banks collect dust)

Contactless fatigue? Not here. Mobile payments now account for over 60% of POS transactions in Scandinavia—leaving legacy players playing catch-up.

Crypto's quiet infiltration

From Bitcoin-accepting bakeries to Ethereum-powered loyalty programs, digital assets are bypassing regulatory hurdles and finding real-world utility. (Take that, MiCA skeptics.)

BNPL's reckoning arrives

After years of reckless growth, buy-now-pay-later schemes face tougher scrutiny—just as consumers start questioning whether that 12th installment plan was really 'financial innovation' or just old-school debt with a fintech wrapper.

The ironic twist? While Europeans embrace these futuristic payment methods, the ECB keeps pushing its digital euro prototype—a solution in search of a problem that crypto already solved.

Online and Card Payments See Broad Growth

In 2024:

• 21% of day-to-day payments were made online, up from 17% in 2022.
• By value, online payments rose to 36%, compared to 28% previously.
• Cards were the dominant instrument by value at the point of sale (POS), accounting for 45% of POS transactions.
• While cash still made up 52% of POS payments by volume, its share declined from 59% in 2022.

Cash Dominates Small Purchases, P2P, and Privacy-Conscious Consumers

• Cash remained the most-used method for low-value payments and P2P transactions, accounting for 41% of the latter.
• Among P2P alternatives, mobile apps and cards were used in 33% of cases, with credit transfers (9%) and instant payments (6%) making up the rest.

Despite a decline in cash usage, 62% of consumers still consider having access to cash “important” or “very important.”

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Privacy, Accessibility, and Merchant Preferences Still Shape Habits

• 58% of respondents expressed privacy concerns over digital payments.
• 87% found it easy to access an ATM or bank, though satisfaction with cash access dipped slightly.
• A notable 24% of consumers said their preferred payment method was not always accepted at physical stores.

Preferences Stable, But Merchant Gaps Remain

• 55% prefer card or cashless options for POS purchases.
• 22% still prefer cash, and 23% had no clear preference — figures unchanged since 2022.

Although ownership of payment accounts ROSE to 93%, payment card ownership dipped slightly to 92%.

Kosta Gushterov

Kosta has been working in the crypto industry for over 4 years. He strives to present different perspectives on a given topic and enjoys the sector for its transparency and dynamism. In his work, he focuses on balanced coverage of events and developments in the crypto space, providing information to his readers from a neutral perspective.

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