More than 7 out of 10 point-of-sale payments were contactless in the Netherlands in 2023. More and more contactless payments are made using a smartphone or smartwatch rather than with a debit card. The traditional method of inserting a debit card is becoming less common. This has been revealed by a joint study conducted by the Dutch Payments Association (Betaalvereniging Nederland) and De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB).
© iStock
The proportion of contactless point-of-sale (POS) payments using a smartphone or smartwatch has increased sharply, from 21% in 2022 to 29% in 2023. In particular, this increase has been at the expense of the share of debit card payments, both contactless and by inserting the card in the traditional way. This shift can also be seen throughout 2023: in the first month of 2023, 23% of all POS payments were made using a smartphone or smartwatch, while in the last month of the year it was 33%. If this trend continues, contactless payment by mobile or smartwatch will be the most common way to pay at the checkout later in 2024.
The proportion of POS payments for which a debit card was inserted fell by one-fifth, from 10% to 8%. Debit card insertions depend partly on the transaction amount involved. In 2023, for example, for amounts lower than €5, a debit card was inserted into the POS terminal in only 4% of purchases. For amounts between €20 and €50, this was more than twice as high (9%), and for amounts above €50 it was even four times as high (18%). One possible explanation for the relatively high share of debit cards insertions for amounts above €50 is that not so long ago, inserting a card was mandatory for amounts above €50, which is why some people continue to do so habitually.
Especially at petrol stations, payments were often made this way: more than 1 in 4 payments (26%) were made by inserting a debit card. There are two possible explanations for this: payments for fuel are often more than €50, and many unstaffed stations introduced contactless payment not so long ago, so we are not yet used to paying contactless at these locations.
A quarter of the POS payments below €5 were paid with cash (25%). For purchases between €50 and €100, it was almost half this number (13%). We paid 16% of the amounts above €100 with cash, slightly up from 2022. The use of cash has remained stable: for three years now, 2 out of 10 POS purchases have been paid with cash.
Point of sale payments in 2023
‘Why do we need a central bank digital currency? To keep up with society. To pursue strategic autonomy. And to maintain access to public money in a digital world.’
Read more Public money: keeping up with the times
The total number of retailers and service providers in the Netherlands that do not accept cash remained unchanged from last year. Trends are shifting in some sectors, however. Cash is no longer accepted at 25% of car parks, up from 16% a year ago.
Read more No more decline in cash acceptance at most Dutch points of sale, except for car parks, cinemas and pharmacies
Among Dutch married and cohabiting couples, women mainly pay the household expenses, such as groceries, while men pay the larger expenses, such as mortgage payments and taxes. But the trend is shifting: among younger generations, this division of tasks is significantly less clear-cut.
Read more Who pays for what? Traditional division of tasks is fading among younger generations
A total of 17,400 counterfeit euro banknotes were withdrawn from circulation in the Netherlands in 2023, which is the lowest number on record and a reduction by more than half (54%) of the 2022 level.
Read more Number of counterfeit banknotes down sharply in the Netherlands
