- Cash preference for payments remains high in Switzerland, and crypto adoption is still low.
- However, yearly trends show that the Swiss are slowly moving away from cash transactions while crypto ownership is gradually gaining traction.
- Crypto adoption in Switzerland for payment is currently 10%.
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) recently conducted a survey to determine the payment preferences of consumers within Switzerland. The central bank found that transactions within its jurisdiction are slowly moving away from cash.
Declining Dominance of Cash Payments
The survey covered the payment habits of 2,000 Switzerland residents during the autumn of 2024. The private respondents answered questions through phone interviews and online forms. The same individuals also recorded their daily payments within a week for a more precise reference.
The SNB found that 95% of the respondents do not want to move away from cash as payment mode. A small part only indicated that they prefer abolishing paper money.
However, the data revealed that there has been a growing use of cashless transactions in the country. It observed that Swiss consumers completed 35% out of 18,623 transactions in 2023 using debit cards. Cash accounted for 30% within the same period.
The information marked a significant decrease in cash preference five years prior, wherein consumers settled 70% of their transactions using fiat money. Meanwhile, payments via credit card and mobile apps have steadily climbed to 14% and 18%, respectively.
Crypto Adoption in Switzerland
Switzerland, despite being the cradle of Web3 and cryptocurrency innovations, didn’t even make it to Chainalysis’ 2024 Global Crypto Adoption Index Top 20. SNB’s survey showed that a minuscule portion of the Swiss population only held these blockchain-based digital assets.
Nonetheless, the trend illustrated a gradually increasing number of Swiss crypto owners. The report reflected a 4% increase in crypto ownership between 2022 and 2024 from 6% to 10%. The young to middle-aged demographics of persons between 15 and 34 years old exhibited the highest rate, from around 11% to 17% within the same timeframe.
On the other hand, the 35- to 54-year-old and above 55 segments also displayed a substantial rise in the use of crypto for payments. The categories rose by roughly 5% and 3%, respectively.
Overall, these underscore that the Swiss jurisdiction still treats cryptos as a niche payment option within the Swiss jurisdiction. No wonder moves for establishing Bitcoin (BTC) reserve are still facing major resistance from its parliament.
