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Are you serious? Every time I've been to Europe (I've lost count of how many times...) I've paid for many things with cash. I actually find it more inconvenient

Are you serious? Every time I've been to Europe (I've lost count of how many times...) I've paid for many things with cash. I actually find it more inconvenient not to have cash there than in the US.

Maultasche 11y ago
It depends on which country in Europe you are in. The fiscally-conservative Germans love cash and love to pay for things with cash. Cash is a lot more prevalent there. I wonder if that love of cash dates to the early 20th century where money in a German bank frequently disappeared, whether through economic collapse, hyperinflation, or simply being bombed into rubble. There are other countries (Iceland springs to mind, but I know there are others) where electronic payment methods are so dominant that someone can get along fine without having any cash. Europe can't always be nicely generalized. There are plenty of differences between individual European countries.
- thesimon 11y ago
  > The fiscally-conservative Germans love cash and love to pay for things with cash. Yeah, sadly. It seems like a lot of Germans associate card payments with having no spending control and going in debt. At least credit card acceptance has improved since the fees were cut by the European Union. I'm still voting with my wallet and putting most merchants without card acceptance on my "ban" list. >that someone can get along fine without having any cash. UK probably as well, especially with contactless payments.
- alephnil 11y ago
  Norway is certainly one of these. In 2011, only 6% payments were with cash. Norwegians younger than 40-50 often even don't have a wallet with space for cash, but rely on their debit card for everything. It would be quite realistic to make Norway cashless. This is not the case for Europe in general though. In many European countries, cash is still the most dominant way of payment.

Are you serious? Every time I've been to Europe (I've lost count of how many times...) I've paid for many things with cash. I actually find it more inconvenient not to have cash there than in the US.

Maultasche 11y ago

It depends on which country in Europe you are in. The fiscally-conservative Germans love cash and love to pay for things with cash. Cash is a lot more prevalent there. I wonder if that love of cash dates to the early 20th century where money in a German bank frequently disappeared, whether through economic collapse, hyperinflation, or simply being bombed into rubble. There are other countries (Iceland springs to mind, but I know there are others) where electronic payment methods are so dominant that someone can get along fine without having any cash. Europe can't always be nicely generalized. There are plenty of differences between individual European countries.

thesimon 11y ago
> The fiscally-conservative Germans love cash and love to pay for things with cash. Yeah, sadly. It seems like a lot of Germans associate card payments with having no spending control and going in debt. At least credit card acceptance has improved since the fees were cut by the European Union. I'm still voting with my wallet and putting most merchants without card acceptance on my "ban" list. >that someone can get along fine without having any cash. UK probably as well, especially with contactless payments.
alephnil 11y ago
Norway is certainly one of these. In 2011, only 6% payments were with cash. Norwegians younger than 40-50 often even don't have a wallet with space for cash, but rely on their debit card for everything. It would be quite realistic to make Norway cashless. This is not the case for Europe in general though. In many European countries, cash is still the most dominant way of payment.