Fewer retailers accept cash in Switzerland

Cash is slowly losing acceptance in the retail trade Keystone-SDA

For the most part, the Swiss population can still choose between paying with cash, payment cards and payment apps when shopping and visiting restaurants. However, cash is less and less accepted in retail trade and on public transport.

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Overall, cash is accepted by fewer companies in the retail sector today than in 2023, according to the Swiss National Bank (SNB) in its Payment Methods Survey 2025 published on Thursday. In its last survey, cash acceptance had hardly changed.

However, the SNB emphasises that most companies still accept the common on-site payment methods of cash, debit cards, credit cards and payment apps. In the hospitality industry, cash acceptance remains at over 95%.

Restrictions planned

According to the study, further restrictions on cash acceptance are only planned in isolated cases over the next two years. Public transport companies are planning restrictions on cash acceptance far more frequently than other companies.

In public transport, it is mainly a question of no longer allowing cash payments at ticket machines or in vehicles. The main reason for this is the cost of withdrawing and returning cash.

High fees

However, around three quarters of companies still perceive cash as more favourable than cashless payment methods: many companies consider the high fees for cashless payment transactions to be problematic. Other points of criticism included inadequate customer service or technical faults.

Meanwhile, according to the survey, the supply and acceptance points for cash are within an “acceptable” range for most companies – on average, the nearest point was reachable within ten minutes. However, the supply and return of coins was perceived as less satisfactory than for banknotes – mainly due to the associated fees and the limited opening hours of these points.

Instant payments still little used

The SNB also surveyed companies on their use of instant payments, which were introduced in summer 2024: According to the survey, only 12% of companies use this option for their own payments. The remaining companies stated that they had either not yet heard of instant payments (26%) or did not use them (54%) – mainly because their suppliers did not yet have a need for them.

In its third survey of companies on payment methods, the SNB surveyed around 1,900 companies in spring 2025. In addition, around 30 selected retailers and public transport companies with high market shares were surveyed on specific topics. Last spring, the SNB had already published a survey on payment methods among private individuals.

Translated from German by DeepL/jdp

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