Majority of Swiss would abolish the five-centime coin
A majority of Swiss people would be in favour of abolishing the five-centime coin - or five-Rappen, according to a survey. However, cash is still popular.
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Majority of Swiss would abolish the five-centime coin
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More than half, namely 54% of the Swiss population, would be in favour of abolishing the five-centime coin. This was the result of a survey conducted as part of the precious metals study by the University of St Gallen (HSG) in collaboration with the precious metals dealer Philoro.
“The fact that the idea of abolishing the five-centime coin has reached a majority in Switzerland has a lot to do with the strong opinions in Ticino and French-speaking Switzerland,” writes Christian Brenner, CEO of Philoro Switzerland, in a press release on the survey.
Some 80% of people surveyed in the southern canton of Ticino would be happy without the smallest coin unit of the Swiss currency. In French-speaking Switzerland, the figure is 68%. In German-speaking Switzerland, opinions are evenly balanced.
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The surprising boom of Switzerland’s least-loved coin
Cash varies in popularity from region to region
According to Brenner, however, the popularity of cash has increased again in recent years. The proportion of people who can imagine life without cash is decreasing. According to the latest study, only 11.2% of respondents said they were in favour of abolishing cash. In 2024, this figure was still 12.4%, and in 2023 it was 28%.
According to the press release, there are also major regional differences when it comes to the abolition of cash overall. In the 2025 survey, 21.5% of respondents in Ticino were in favour of abolishing cash, compared to 13% in French-speaking Switzerland and 9.8% in German-speaking countries. The younger a person is, the less likely they are to hold on to cash. People with a higher level of education or higher income were more likely to give up coins and notes.
The HSG’s Institute for Marketing and Customer Insight conducted the study from July to September 2025. It surveyed 3,012 adults from German-, French- and Italian-speaking Switzerland online. The sample is representative.
Translated from German by AI/jdp
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