Central Bank of Estonia payment survey shows rising smartphone and smartwatch use while cash support remains strong

The Central Bank of Estonia published results from its survey of residents’ payment behaviour, finding high satisfaction with the convenience, modernity and security of bank payment solutions alongside persistent concern about scam activity. Everyday shopping still largely happens in physical shops, but payment behaviour is shifting away from physical bank cards towards smartphones and smartwatches, while cash continues to be valued and a cashless society is widely opposed. In the latest survey, 87% of respondents said they mainly make everyday purchases in shops and 3% mainly online, though online shopping is increasingly preferred for larger purchases. Bank cards accounted for 69% of payments, down from 82% two years earlier, while 23% preferred paying by smartphone or smartwatch, rising to 55% among under-30s. Cash was the preferred payment method for 8% of respondents and 20% said they do not use cash for purchases at all, up from 14% in 2023; 14% reported having had a cash payment refused in the past year. Access to cash was seen as unchanged by 63% (15% worse, 5% improved), and 61% approved of the rounding rule introduced at the start of the year; support for a cashless society fell to 22% while 64% opposed it. For person-to-person payments, 39% preferred mobile banking and 36% online banking, and 36% had used “request-to-pay” in mobile banks, while 57% had never used it and 7% were unaware of it. The survey was conducted by Turu-uuringute AS from 5–12 September with 1,010 respondents across Estonia. The central bank commissions the payment behaviour survey every two years and previously ran it in 2023 and 2021.