Although cash is the most widely used method of payment in Cyprus, the weekly use of credit/debit cards in shops stands at 63%, according to the findings of the Central Bank of Cyprus’ (CBC) first quantitative survey on the level of knowledge and awareness of the digital euro, published on the CBC blog. The survey also found that the majority of respondents had no knowledge at all about the digital euro.
Meanwhile, 23% of respondents make payments/transfers via the internet or mobile applications on a weekly basis, while 40% of those who make card payments via mobile phone use this method weekly. The use of cheques, meanwhile, was found to be very limited.
The survey also found that most who use cash on a daily basis are people with limited access to digital means, predominantly older men with lower educational and income levels, as well as pensioners and unemployed people. By contrast, those who prefer digital payment methods (online or mobile banking, or cards via mobile phone) are mainly women under the age of 45 with tertiary education, belonging to higher or middle socio-economic groups and living in urban areas.
It adds that the profile of people who prefer the use of physical cards and cash consists mainly of women from middle-income groups living in urban areas, while the use of cheques is observed mainly among older men and businesspeople.
Furthermore, the survey found that the majority of respondents had no knowledge at all about the digital euro (61%), while just 1% said they were fully informed. The highest proportion of those with some knowledge of the digital euro comprised people under the age of 65, those with tertiary education and employed people. The proportion who said they had heard of the digital euro included men, older people, individuals from higher-income groups with tertiary education, urban residents, and people mainly working in business, self-employed individuals or those in managerial positions.
Respondents’ main sources of information about the digital euro, were social media (49%) and television programmes (30%), while relevant conferences and seminars were the least popular source of information about the digital euro.
Information through social media is preferred by younger people, those from middle- or lower-income groups, people living in rural areas and employed people. Meanwhile, information through television programmes appears to be more widespread among older people, lower-income groups, people with less education and the unemployed. On the other hand, higher-income groups, people with tertiary education, urban residents and those working in business, who are self-employed or hold managerial positions prefer to obtain information from print/online newspapers.
The digital euro
The CBC survey also found that 35% of all participants said they were willing to incorporate the use of the digital euro into their daily lives. These people were predominantly under the age of 45, employed, had tertiary education and belonged to higher-income groups.
By contrast, 28% of survey participants considered it somewhat unlikely to highly unlikely that they would incorporate the digital euro into their daily lives.
Among those who said they intended to use the digital euro, 40% would use it for online purchases, 41% for purchases in shops and 33% for person-to-person payments, while 17% were unsure about the types of transactions for which they would use the digital euro.
Asked about the differences between the digital euro and existing payment methods, only 19% of respondents believed that the digital euro would offer a substantially different way of carrying out transactions. Meanwhile, 56% did not believe that the digital euro would offer anything genuinely different from other payment methods.
The main concern among participants regarding the use of the digital euro was the possibility of their transactions being monitored and the fear that cash could be abolished (53%). A further 38% appeared to be concerned about the security of using the digital euro, while 25% were concerned about how they would manage their spending using the digital euro.
Regarding the ease of using the digital euro, only 30% expressed serious concerns. The participants who expressed significant concern about the digital euro were predominantly women, older people, those from lower-income groups, people without tertiary education, the unemployed and people with no knowledge of the digital euro.
Finally, among the professionals who participated in the survey (business owners, managers and self-employed people), 54% said they would be willing to accept payments in digital euros without any reservations. A further 9% said that their decision to accept payments in digital euros would depend on the cost, ease of implementation and demand, while 27% said they would not be willing to accept payments in digital euros.
Digital payment methods
According to the publication, in line with these developments and the continuously growing trend towards digital payment methods, the European Central Bank (ECB) is developing the digital euro, a digital form of money that will be issued by the ECB and made available to all citizens within the euro area for payments both online and offline. At this stage, work is under way at European level on the legal framework governing the issuance and operation of the digital euro, as well as on the technical solution for its implementation, with the aim of issuing it for the first time in 2029.
The survey was conducted between 21 and 27 April through telephone interviews, using a structured questionnaire prepared by the CBC’s Directorate-General for Payments Supervision. The survey covered the whole of Cyprus and involved 506 interviews with people aged 18 and over.
(Source: CNA)
