Malta with highest use of cash among Eurozone countries: study

VALLETTA, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- A study by the European Central Bank (ECB) has found that consumers in Malta are most likely to pay for goods or services in cash, compared to the rest of the Eurozone.

Among the study's findings is that the use of cash across the bloc is still prevalent, albeit with significant variations across different states.

According to the ECB study - which was conducted among 65,000 people in the first half of 2016 - 92 percent of all transactions in Malta involved some form of exchange of coins or notes, with Greece and Cyprus ranking the second highest rate, at 88 percent. The Netherlands registered the lowest rate of cash transactions at 45 percent.

Transaction value was found to be highest in Luxembourg, followed by Malta and Germany.

Moreover, it was noted that here was a correlation between the use of cash at Point of Sales and the level of card acceptance in the country. In Malta, the "perceived card acceptance" was found to be the second lowest, just before Greece.

Maltese consumers made an average of 1.6 cash transactions during the period surveyed and 0.1 a day using some form of traceable payment.

Apart from buying necessities, 15 percent said they paid their rent in cash, while more than 60 percent used it to pay medical bills. More than 20 percent said they paid their water and electricity bills in cash.

Gender and age were also found to be useful indicators, with men carrying an average 12 euros (14.27 U.S. dollars) more than women, while older respondents carried up to 43 euros more than those from the youngest age groups. (1 euro = 1.19 dollars) Enditem