Bulgaria has Europe's second-largest share of cash payments after Romania, according to data from the World Bank's Global Findex database, cited by the Euronet payment services company.
Some 63% of transactions in Bulgaria use cash payments, compared to 78% in the country's northern neighbour. The COVID-19 pandemic was expected to step up the digitization of the means of payment and reduce the use of cash, but available data shows that European consumers still prefer to make payments in cash.
About 42% of the population of Romania and 28% of that of Bulgaria have no bank account, which speaks a lot about local consumers' reliance on physical banknotes and coins.
On the other end of the European spectrum, Norway reports that only 3% of its monetary transactions are performed using cash. Norway also has a remarkably low share of ATMs: just 32 units per 100,000 population. At the same time, 100 per cent of the country's adult population hold a bank account.
Euronet Regional Manager for Bulgaria Kalina Stoikin said: "Generally speaking, consumers in Bulgaria and Europe are strongly attached to physical money and cash payments. We expect that cash will survive the digital revolution and people will keep using it as a preferred payment method for many more years."
Euronet has started a campaign in Bulgaria aimed to ensure that people in remote areas have fast and easy access to cash. The initiative, ATM for the Community, is tailored to the needs of municipalities which want to provide opportunities for their residents to withdraw cash.
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