Digital payments may dominate, but across Ireland, loyal cash users – and cash-only businesses – are proving there’s life left yet in physical money
Is cash still important in the new contactless world? Photo: Getty
Is cash still king? In recent years, Ireland shifted away from physical money, towards digital payment methods. At cafés and supermarket tills, parking meters and toll booths, vending machines and church collection plates, a frictionless tap often is all it takes to part with hard-earned dough.
In 2025, Bank of Ireland reported that just one in every eight euros spent was cash, down from around one in three before the pandemic. As of last June, ATM withdrawals had also declined 3.6pc on the year.
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