Swiss increasingly paying with digital and wearable devices

Coffees and QR codes: as it is elsewhere, cash is facing digital competition in Switzerland. © Keystone / Christian Beutler

Some 37% of Swiss now use payment methods such as a smartphone or a smart watch – up from 25% just two years ago.

This is shown by the results of the third edition of the Visa Payment Monitor carried out in collaboration with the forsa research institute. According to the representative online survey of 1,000 people in Switzerland, almost three-quarters (72%) now prefer to use digital payment methods.

According to the survey, 27% of Swiss in German-speaking regions actively avoid shops where they can’t pay digitally. The figure is 34% in French-speaking Switzerland and as high as 37% in Ticino. Across Switzerland, the figure is 29%.

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However, digital payments will still not work everywhere in 2023. One in three (36%) complain that a digital payment is rejected in a shop at least once a month. Consumers most frequently miss digital payment options in small shops (17%) and at weekly and Christmas markets (20% and 17% respectively).

Compared to previous editions of the study, it is also apparent that the over-60s are clearly catching up when it comes to contactless mobile payments. One in four have already made a mobile payment, a considerable increase compared to the previous year (+14 percentage points). Under 36-year-olds are also continuing to grow here.

By way of comparison, more than half (52%) of those under 36 have already paid at the checkout (52%) using a smartphone or wearable.

Payment data often stored digitally

The Swiss are even more smartphone-savvy online. Overall, seven out of ten people (72%) say they use mobile devices to shop online, an increase of seven percentage points compared to the previous year.

The survey also revealed that two-thirds of consumers have now stored their credit card data digitally. With the introduction of modern debit cards, which can now also be used to pay online, 59% would now store their card in digital form.

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