Report on the payment attitudes of consumers in Italy: results from ECB SPACE 2024 survey

13 October 2025

Banca d'Italia today publishes 'Report on the payment attitudes of consumers in Italy: results from ECB SPACE 2024 survey', the new issue of the series 'Markets, infrastructures, payment systems'.

This report presents the payment attitudes of consumers in Italy, based on the 'Study on the payment attitudes of consumers in the euro area (SPACE) - 2024', conducted by the European Central Bank between the end of 2023 and the first half of 2024. The main purpose of the report is to provide updated information on the prevailing trends in the use of payment instruments in Italy and, where applicable and relevant, to compare them with those of the euro area and with data from previous surveys (conducted in 2016, 2019 and 2022). The data show that, while cash remains the main payment instrument at the point of sale (POS), especially for low-value purchases (up to €50), its overall usage has gradually declined. Cashless payments are on the rise overall, also owing to an increase in e-commerce purchases. In addition to being the main alternative to cash for POS transactions, cards continue to be the most used payment instrument both in terms of number and value of transactions for online payments. Moreover, mobile payments at the POS and e-payments solutions for online purchases have been growing as well.