European Report 2025
Safety, Convenience and Choice:

The True Value
of Cards

Research on the value and cost of cards in today’s dynamic and vibrant payments ecosystem. Based on a survey of merchants and consumers in Europe.

Key Highlights

Relationship with cash

Cash prevalence is declining across Europe

 72% of merchants prefer digital payments over cash

48% of merchants would like to have the ability to refuse cash

70% of European consumers make online payments more than once a month

68% of consumers would rather pay with a card at a merchant, even if cash was also available

Payments priorities

Safety and security are by far the top priorities for European merchants and consumers

77% of merchants prefer to accept cards over other payment methods because they meet these priorities best

46% of merchants consider cards the best payment method for preventing fraud

71% of consumers trust their cards more than any other payment method

72% of consumers believe that their money will be reimbursed in the event of card fraud

Market evolution: winners & winners

The European payments landscape is evolving and becoming increasingly diverse, with new payment options gaining popularity

85% of merchants feel that accepting a large range of payment options has increased their turnover

93% of merchants believe that contactless payment has been beneficial to their business

87% of consumers are happy with the payment options currently available.

Card payments: cost and value

Cost is not the most important variable when choosing bet­ween payment methods, Safety and security are

83% of merchants believe they pay reasonable fees for the value they receive from accepting card payments

78% of merchants understand the different fees associated with accepting card payments

60% of merchants feel that the cost of cards has not changed or has decreased in the past five years

71% of consumers trust their cards more than any other payment method

true value updates

Flag Czech Republic CZ 3d rendering

The Czech payments market is diverse, offering payment options that compete effectively with each other

The Czech payments market is characterised by a diverse offering of payment options that compete effectively with each other, as evidenced by the fact that cash, cards, and standard and...
Hungarian_flag

The Hungarian payments market is diverse and competitive, benefitting merchants and consumers

The Hungarian payments market provides a wide variety of payment options to its merchants and consumers. Although reliance on cash remains higher than average, other payment methods, such as stan­dard...
Sweden-Flag copy

The payment landscape in Sweden has undergone a digital shift and is highly diversified and competitive

The payment landscape in Sweden has undergone a digital shift spurred by technological advancements, regulatory changes, and evolving merchant and consumer preferences. Sweden’s payments market is highly diversified and competitive,...
Methodology

The “Safety, Convenience and Choice: The True Value of Cards” report is based on a survey commissioned by Payments Europe and conducted in 2024. The survey was completed by 2250 merchants working in physical and online retail in Austria (250), Czech Republic (250), Denmark (250), Finland (250), Greece (250), Hungary (250), Ireland (250), Latvia (250), and Lithuania (250). In addition to questions on respondent’s payments habits, the results of which are combined to constitute the report, merchants were asked about what type of business they run (sector of activity), size of their business (number of employees and turnover), their familiarity with the decision-process around payment transactions, and whether they conduct their business online or offline. The online survey was also completed by 13000 consumers living in Austria (1000), Czech Republic (1000), Denmark (1000), Finland (1000), France (1000), Germany (1000), Greece (1000), Hungary (1000), Ireland (1000), Latvia (1000), Lithuania (1000), Poland (1000), and Sweden (1000). Respondents were weighted to ensure representativeness by region, gender, and age. Consumers were also asked about their work status, type of household, income, and general financial situation.

Previous waves of merchant and consumer surveys were also conducted in:

  • 2023 (1560 merchants). Breakdown by country: France (264), Germany (252), Italy (263), Spain (271), Sweden (242) and Poland (268).
  • 2021 (3223 consumers). Breakdown by country: France (544), Germany (539), Italy (530), Spain (540), Sweden (538) and Poland (532).
  • 2021 (648 merchants). Breakdown by country: France (109), Germany (110), Italy (110), Spain (110), Sweden (106) and Poland (103).
  • 2019 (3120 Consumers). Breakdown by country: France (520), Germany (520), Italy (520), Poland (520), Sweden (520) and UK (520).
  • 2019 (680 merchants). Breakdown by country: France (110), Germany (110), Italy (111), Poland (120), Sweden (120) and UK (109).

True Value Country Reports

Payments Europe is committed to research and an evidence-based discussion on payments to promote and inform policymaking in Europe.
Payment Europe regularly conducts research on merchant and consumer sentiment and preference across the region. Local data has been extracted in individual country reports.