The payments divide: a challenge for the future

This article uses selected results of the Digital Payment Barometer – an annual, nationally representative survey among more than 1,100 Belgians – to document that there is a ‘payments divide’. We use this term to refer to a situation where the majority of Belgian consumers are comfortable with – and increasingly use – electronic payment instruments at the Point of Sale but where, at the same time, there is a non-negligible minority who still prefer cash. These consumers also exhibit a strong resistance against the advent of a cashless society. Worryingly, over the period 2020-2023 this divide has only become bigger. We also show that there is a regional dimension to the divide.