COVID-19 cash and debit card use in Belgium 2020-2021

COVID-19 seems to have changed the payment behavior of Belgian consumers, as they increasingly used debit cards in favor of cash money. This according to indices that compare the number of ATM cash withdrawals and the number of debit card payments in shops during the COVID-19 lockdown to their normal value before the coronavirus pandemic hit Belgium. The source does not mention why it picked February 3 as the starting date, although Belgium's first recorded coronavirus case occurred on February 2, 2020. Nonetheless, like in many other European countries, contactless card limits were raised in a bid to prevent the virus from spreading via cash money. Belgians not only followed the advice of using more digital payments, but figures seem to indicate that consumers are also open to continue this behavior in the following months. When looking at an overview of cash use in 38 European countries, Belgian consumers already used less banknotes and coins in their POS transactions than many other European countries.