Payment Instruments as Perceived by Consumers – Results from a Household Survey

Summary Survey results show that Dutch consumers perceive paying in cash as an inexpensive way to pay, compared to paying with electronic payment cards. This finding partly explains the low usage of electronic payment cards in point-of-sale (POS) payments. The objective of the survey was to identify price and non-price features of payment instruments that can be used to stimulate the use of electronic payment cards. Their attractiveness can be increased, through technological modifications that enhance their convenience and by increasing the number of acceptance points. Making it less expensive for consumers to pay with payment cards could also increase the usage of payment cards. I would like to thank Rein Kieviet, Maarten van Rooij, Stijn Schmitz, Ariena van Wageningen and especially Corrie Vis of CentERdata for their help in collecting the data. Furthermore, I would like to thank two anonymous referees, Wilko Bolt, Hans Brits, Jeff Dominitz, Beth Kiser, Beth Klee, Jed Kolko, Philip Maier, Carlo Winder and participants of the DNB lunch seminar, the FRB research seminar and the Boston FED ‘Consumer behaviour and Payment Choice’ conference for their valuable comments on earlier versions of this paper. All remaining errors are my own. The views expressed in this paper are mine and do not necessarily reflect those of the Nederlandsche Bank.