Cash is becoming a less welcome form of payment in Belgium, with only 81 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises now accepting notes and coins, according to a
new survey by the European Central Bank.
The figure marks a sharp deterioration from 2024, when cash was accepted by 91 per cent of Belgian SMEs. It leaves Belgium with the second-lowest cash acceptance rate in the eurozone, ahead of only Cyprus, where the figure has fallen to 76 per cent.
The Belgian decline contrasts with the broader European picture. Across Europe, 92 per cent of SMEs accept cash, up from 90 per cent two years earlier. Despite the rise of digital payments, cash remains more widely accepted than either bank cards, at 88 per cent, or mobile payment services, at 68 per cent.
Mobile payments, however, are expanding rapidly. Their acceptance rate has almost doubled from 36 per cent two years ago, highlighting the speed at which consumer payment habits are changing.
At the other end of the scale, Greece and Italy remain firmly attached to cash, with 99 per cent of businesses in each country continuing to accept it.
For businesses turning away from cash, the reasons are largely practical. Companies say customers are using cash less frequently, while depositing or obtaining cash has become increasingly inconvenient. Security concerns are another factor cited by firms that no longer want to handle physical money.
The hospitality and retail sectors remain the strongest supporters of cash, with 93 per cent of businesses in each sector accepting it across Europe.
Belgium, however, again stands out as an outlier. Only 80 per cent of restaurants and cafés accept cash, the second-lowest rate recorded, narrowly ahead of the Netherlands at 78 per cent.
The picture is similarly striking in retail. Just 83 per cent of Belgian retailers accept cash — the lowest level in Europe, jointly with Austria.
Yet the ECB survey suggests that cash is unlikely to disappear from Belgian businesses altogether in the near future.
More than 90 per cent of Belgian SMEs say they expect to continue accepting cash over the next five years. That puts Belgium well ahead of countries such as Cyprus, where fewer than half of businesses expect to keep cash as a payment option.
The figures underline a growing divide in Europe's payments landscape: while digital and mobile transactions are gaining ground rapidly, cash remains deeply embedded in many economies. Belgium is increasingly at the forefront of the shift away from physical money, even as most of its small businesses still expect to keep the option available. Photo by Martin a1999a, Wikimedia commons.