The Government of Spain’s autonomous region of Cantabria failed to convince its citizens to switch to cashless payments. The pilot that took place in the town of Suances from 19 October to 10 December 2017 was supported by the government, Cantabria University, Santander Bank and MasterCard.
The purpose of the pilot was to assess potential resistance against digital payments and identify existing technical weaknesses. Interestingly, 30% of businesses reported that they consider costs related to card payments too high and 60% admitted to not promoting card payments because their customers don’t demand it. In fact, only one in five business owners associate digital payments to lower costs. Furthermore, 28% of local retailers function on a “cashMoney in physical form such as banknotes and coins. More only” policy and 17% of them accept cards only when a minimum amount is spent.
This experiment could not have proven the high popularity of cash in Spain more clearly. Indeed, it is by far the most popular payment methodSee Payment instrument. More in terms of frequency of usage and value regardless of the fact that 87% of consumers own a smartphone.