Their use was widespread even before the pandemic, but it has become even more widespread after it. The use of cards and payment methods other than cash is becoming increasingly common. This is supported by data from the Bank of Spain, which shows that in the second half of 2023, card payments “accounted for 65% of the total number of payments made with means other than cash.” Portuguese news site ZAP NotÃcias summarizes the psychological impact of continuing to pay with cash. She does this by citing the results of a study published last October by Quartical Market Research. She points out that paying with cash provokes a more emotional response than other methods. Usually, we find it harder to see, for example, a 20 euro note coming out of our wallet than to insert a card into a data phone. The study cited by ZAP News was carried out by the University of Surrey. The activity lasted a total of 20 years and involved people from two continents. Participants who paid with cash reported a greater sense of loss than those who opted for digital methods. Regarding trends in payment methods in Spain, XIII. The latest edition of the Payment Methods Trends report finds that “from a physical point of view, payment cards are now more popular than cash”. And, according to the document, the same applies to Chile, Brazil and the UK. The same text points out that of the different digital payment methods that exist in both Spain and Italy, the debit card is the most widely used system. This trend contradicts that of the other countries covered by the study, where people prefer to pay directly from their accounts.
