Cash is by no means "very uncommon" in Europe. It's used for 82% of payments in Germany, for example.

- http://qz.com/262595/why-germans-pay-cash-for-almost-everyth... - http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/coming-clean_switzerland-tighten...

Just within the EU, cash usage varies from 29% of all payments (Luxembourg) to 97% (Greece).

Even sticking to the richest countries, Germany has 61%, Ireland 69%, Italy 86%.

http://en.finance.sia-partners.com/wpfiles/2012/12/Illustrat...

In my most recent trips to Germany, 2013/14, the opposite was the case. Cash seemed to be the most common way of paying for things. At food stores almost everyone was paying with cash though there was some sort of card reader (debit I assume ...?) that I saw people using occasionally. As someone from the US where in my experience electronic transfers are the norm, I was pretty astonished to find that the home of the EU central bank was still running on cash.

>At food stores almost everyone was paying with cash though there was some sort of card reader (debit I assume ...?) that I saw people using occasionally.

There is a popular domestic EFTPOS scheme used in Germany. A lot of small shops (especially restaurants) don't use it though because it leaves a papertrail (ie. you have to pay taxes on it). Often Maestro/VPay will be accepted though.

In terms of card payments in general: A lot of people associate (credit) cards with being poor, in debt and having no control on how you are spending your money. Cash on the other hand is associated with having control on how much you are spending. I've even seen people apologizing at the register, because they are paying a "small amount" ($5+) with card.

Almost all big stores accept credit cards now though after the European union cut the fees.

Depends very much on the country I guess. The only country I've been to where I saw almost everybody use a card was Norway, although they did accept cash everywhere. Contrarily in the Netherlands (where I live), cash is still quite prevalent, although there is a trend for shops to stop accepting it.

I am from the Netherlands; what shops and where?

The most well-known one is Marqt. Others in my neighbourhood in Amsterdam: Vlaamsch Broodhuys, Grapedistrict, De Stadskantine, Tolhuistuin (venue); also the Beauforthuis (venue) in Austerlitz, so it is really not only restricted to the big city. The Landmarkt and Ekoplaza near me have only one checkout lane that accepts cash.

hey, european here. we like cashless payments, but walking around without any paper/coins would be asking for trouble at the random counter. countless times of taxi's card reader could not connect, card was not recognized, small payments not supported etc.

Are you serious? Every time I've been to Europe (I've lost count of how many times...) I've paid for many things with cash. I actually find it more inconvenient not to have cash there than in the US.

It depends on which country in Europe you are in. The fiscally-conservative Germans love cash and love to pay for things with cash. Cash is a lot more prevalent there. I wonder if that love of cash dates to the early 20th century where money in a German bank frequently disappeared, whether through economic collapse, hyperinflation, or simply being bombed into rubble.

There are other countries (Iceland springs to mind, but I know there are others) where electronic payment methods are so dominant that someone can get along fine without having any cash.

Europe can't always be nicely generalized. There are plenty of differences between individual European countries.

> The fiscally-conservative Germans love cash and love to pay for things with cash.

Yeah, sadly. It seems like a lot of Germans associate card payments with having no spending control and going in debt.

At least credit card acceptance has improved since the fees were cut by the European Union. I'm still voting with my wallet and putting most merchants without card acceptance on my "ban" list.

>that someone can get along fine without having any cash.

UK probably as well, especially with contactless payments.

Norway is certainly one of these. In 2011, only 6% payments were with cash. Norwegians younger than 40-50 often even don't have a wallet with space for cash, but rely on their debit card for everything. It would be quite realistic to make Norway cashless. This is not the case for Europe in general though. In many European countries, cash is still the most dominant way of payment.