One billion euros a day withdrawn by Italians from ATMs: if in 2022 the cash withdrawn stood at 350 billion euros, in 2023, after a year, the figure rose to 360 billion, equal to 10 billion more (+2%), an increase that rises to 18 billion if we consider that in 2021 withdrawals had stood at 352 billion. In essence, almost one billion euros is withdrawn daily from ATMs (automated teller machines). This is what emerges from a report by the Unimpresa Research Center, according to which as regards virtual currency and digital payments, last year the transactions reached 11 thousand billion euros between bank transfers (which cover 94% of this sector), bank and cashier’s checks, and credit or debit cards.
An increase that, in any case, does not slow down plastic money, used more than in the past: 426 billion euros in transactions in 2023 against 382 billion euros in 2022, that is, 44 billion euros more in one year (+11.5%). And the diffusion is also increasing significantly: there are over 120 million cards in circulation, including credit cards (21 million), debit cards (67 million) and prepaid cards (33 million). Here too we are faced with growth, over 5 million more pieces between 2022 and 2023 (+4.5%): in detail, there are 300 thousand more credit cards (+1.4%), 2.7 million more debit cards (+4.2%) and prepaid cards, which parents increasingly give to their minor children to manage their weekly allowances, have grown by 2.1 million (+7.1%). With just 200 average transactions per capita carried out with credit cards, bank transfers and checks, “the Peninsula is proving to be very fond of paper money” as stated in a note. The Eurozone average for payments alternative to cash is 370 transactions per citizen, with Spain recording 290, Germany 329 and France 424. The Netherlands (670) and other Northern countries, such as Finland (598) and Estonia (488), do even better.