Credit cards are payment option with highest turnover in Switzerland, study shows.

The study was conducted through online surveys as well as with public data from the Swiss National Bank (SNB). A total of 1400 people between the ages of 18 and 75 were interviewed between November and mid-December 2020. The study showed that credit cards are now the means of payment with the highest turnover (24%) in Switzerland. Compared to 2020, the credit card has displaced the debit card from the top position. According to the study, this is due to the increase in online purchases, meaning that credit cards are not used most often, but generate the greatest sales. This is followed by invoices with 22%, debit cards with 21% and cash with 13%.

In terms of the number of transactions, cash is still the most frequently used means of payment with a share of 32%, just ahead of the debit card with 31%.The use of cash in Switzerland fell by around 10% points in relation to sales and has also fallen by around 13% points compared to 2020 in the number of transactions. Furthermore, every tenth payment is now made via a mobile device. According to a representative of the University of St. Gallen, almost 10% of all transactions are now processed with a mobile device. Most mobile payments are made using apps with an integrated payment function (21% of mobile device transactions). Additionally, 20% of people use smartphones to pay in shops via QR code and 13% via contactless data transmission (NFC). Around three-fifths of all transactions with payment cards are now made contactless.