The decline of cash and the rise of alternative payments have been on the news in the last few years but Wincor Nixdorf told a group of retail and banking IT executives in Germany that 90% of the world’s transaction in volume are still being carried out in cash – amounting to 60% of dollar volume.
“A lot of people overestimate how fast cash will be replaced,” said Thomas Fell, senior VP of retail at German cash handling technology manufacturer Wincor Nixdorf, speaking to Inside Retail. The executive declared that the declined of cash has been underestimated in the last few years and if predictions had been right cash use should be at 20% and not the current number.
Wincor Nixdorf claims that cash payments are still being widely used for small amount purchases and that NFC technology can only take off if consumers really perceive it as convenient as cash. Fell was very negative about the technology and affirmed that Apple’s reluctance to include NFC in their new iPhone will hamper the development of contactless payments. “If Apple does not announce it, it won’t happen; like it or not. The Samsung phone has it, other phones have it, but as long as Apple does not start with it, it will not be massive,” he declared. He also argued that the cost of equipping shops and other outlets with new card readers sometimes too much of an expense for small retailers, where most low-value payments take place.
Despite the inherent bias of a company that develops cash handling technology, recent studies put cash use in Europe as high. The exceptions in the region are the Nordic countries such as Sweden.
