Italy silver medal in Europe

There are different forms of pollution and one of these is the result of the circulation of cash. The cash payment has its notable impact on diffusion of CO2 and this has led to a real ranking in Europe. Italy earned second placebehind only Germany.

Cash pollution

Looking at total CO2 emissions, connected solely to cash payments, Italy is the silver medalist in Europe, behind Germany, as mentioned. The figures indicate more than 160.8 thousand tons generatedwith an average of 2.7 kg per single inhabitant.

These estimates were developed by The European House – Ambrosetti. In fact, some of the information present in the Community Cashless Society 2024 Report has been anticipated. This will also be discussed and, obviously, the new steps towards the necessary digital transition in Cernobbio on April 4th. A meeting is planned between companies and institutions in the cashless supply chain.

But is paying by card really more sustainable? It is important not to fall into the mistake of considering cash polluting and the completely “green” digital currency. The technology is certainly not sustainable, let’s be clear, considering the systems in place to allow you to pay by card. The entire web world has its own polluting footprinteven a single email has its weight.

In statistical terms, however, cashless payment has a carbon footprint 21% lower than cash. Turning in this direction could therefore also guarantee this advantage, in addition to the well-known help in the fight against tax evasion.

Digital payments in Italy

Over the last few years we have witnessed a profound change in the system. Although there are still “smart” merchants who claim to have broken the POS on that very day or to have the well-known “line problems”, paying by card is now customary.

From a social point of view it is much more unlikely to encounter an unpleasant experience at the checkout. This means having to justify your request for cashless payment, even for small sums. The paper obtained based figures on the analysis of 500 merchantshighlighting how 8 out of 10 accept digital payments as well as in cash.

The next step? Achieve total availability in Italy, and then broaden the vision of traders also to P2P modewith systems like Paypal, for example, which today almost only concern purchases on the web.

A further detail is interesting, relating to 58% of merchants. These have introduced digital payments to meet growing customer demand. Indeed, the social movement has had its impact. It makes sense to pay taxes for transactions, especially if you have studied the market well and identified the most suitable solution for your business. This is because without the cashless option an average loss of 26% of customers is expected. A statistic that increases enormously in some sectors: food, clothing, hotels and accommodation facilities, bars and tobacconists. In these cases, in fact, it can even exceed 60%.

Those anchored to the past have developed an unjustified hatred for the digital system. In fact, more than 50% of those interviewed recorded an increase in sales after the introduction of this additional option. However, it is strange how there is still a low percentage of people who consider cashless to be safer. This is only 13.7% of respondents in this analysis. For the most part, cash remains the safest route. Although it poses the risk of robberies, it is something concrete and less volatile than a digital transaction.