Digital payments in Italy are characterized by discussions on debit and credit card costs, sparking political strife and impacting development paths taken. The discussion on card costs came to a head in December 2022, when Italy's parliament wanted to impose a tax on payments firms and banks if they failed lower card fees at POS terminals in 2023. Italy instead focuses on alternative payments, especially wallets. Contactless mobile transactions in physical shops are
, especially when conducted with smartphones and wearable devices. Indeed, the
stands out: Nine out of 10 respondents indicated they had used the payment method at least once. They also believed
.
Digital payments refer to any form of cashless payment, or payments conducted without banknotes or coins, in an online or offline environment. Such payments can include mobile payments - digital payments performed with a mobile device - but also relatively new trends like buy now, pay later (BNPL), cryptocurrency, or instant (real-time) payments. Out of all these digital options, which developments are noteworthy to know about for Italy?
The government's stance against digital transaction costs
Compared to other European countries,
Italy relied more on cash than most. Prime minister Giorgia Meloni proposed two measures in December 2022 to increase cash use and curb commission costs paid to banks and digital payment providers. First, merchants could decline digital transactions under 60 euros. Second, the legal ceiling for cash payments was to increase from 1,000 euros to 5,000 euros. The Italian parliament, the central bank, and the European Commission all criticized the measures as it could help
Italy's shadow economy. Since then, the government struck a deal between merchants, payment providers, and banks to cut commission costs. SAn important factor for this deal is the presence of payments firm Nexi in Italy: Analysts argued this action could significantly impact the revenue of
Nexi - one of Italy's largest listed companies and among Europe's largest payment firms.
Italy's population and its digital potential
More than two out of 10 people living in Italy were older than 65 years as of 2021, making it
the country with the highest share of elderly population in Europe. This makes Italy a country with "untapped digital potential", according to a report from the European Union.
Credit card penetration among 15-to 24-year-olds was less than 18 percent in 2017, but is estimated to be around 65 percent for ages 25 and up in 2024. One of Italy's buy now, pay later observed that
most of its BNPL client base was in the age group between 41 and 56 years.
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