Global Cash Index: How Long Will King Cash Reign Supreme In Poland?

In 2015 alone, Polish consumers spent more than €194 billion in cash, according to new PYMNTS research. But it’s reign has been volatile, however, and modern payment methods appear to be taking a run at the throne. Find more insights, along with an interview with Joanna Erdman, director of core service and non-banking products at mBank, one of Poland’s largest banks, inside the hot off the presses PYMNTS.com Global Cash Index™ Poland Analysis.

Odds are, when a consumer makes a purchase in Poland, he or she is handing over physical cash to pay for it.

This may not be the case for much longer, however.

According to the brand new PYMNTS.com Global Cash Index™ Poland Analysis, cash is still by far the preferred method of payment in the country. Index research reveals that Polish consumers spent more than €194 billion in cash in 2015, more than four times as much spent via other means.

But, as it turns out, young consumers in Poland are readily adopting more modern payment methods such as credit and debit cards and mobile wallets. According to a recent study from Visa, 79 percent of Polish mobile phone users have made a mobile payment in the last year, and research from Statista reports that the number of smartphone users in the European nation is on the rise.

Here are some key takeaways from the new PYMNTS.com Global Cash Index™ Poland Analysis:

  • Poland’s cash share accounted for 41 percent of the country’s GDP in 2015
  • Cash share is expected to fall to 32 percent of the GDP by 2020
  • Since 2000, there has been a 289 percent increase in the number of ATM terminals in Poland, to 20,531 ATMs in 2014.

The PYMNTS.com Global Cash Index™ Poland Analysis also features an interview with Joanna Erdman, director of core service and non-banking products at mBank, one of the largest banks in Poland. PYMNTS recently caught up with Erdman to discuss the state of cash in Poland and the future of payments in the country.

Here’s a preview:

While Poland may be a long way from the tech hub of California’s Silicon Valley, its citizens seem especially eager to adopt these new solutions. 

Erdman also noted that cash on delivery, which was in the past the only way to pay for goods ordered via mail order or the internet, is decreasing, as more consumers feel comfortable spending time and shopping on the web.

“Customer behavior is changing,” Edman said. “We have observed more and more customers paying with cards and more and more customers paying via the internet or with some other method separate from cash.”

PYMNTS’ research found that Polish consumers are particularly early adopters when it comes to embracing new payment solutions. The Index Analysis cites a recent survey from Visa, which reports that about 79 percent of Polish mobile phone users have made a mobile payment in the past year.

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    About the Index

    The PYMNTS.com Global Cash Index™, a Cardtronics collaboration, focuses on the use of cash for making payments and as a payment method that equally plays a role with cards, checks, direct debit and other methods of settling up between consumers and businesses. Unlike most reported estimates of cash, our proprietary data analysis focuses on the use of cash for making payments rather than hoarding.