Cashless payments grow in Italy through 2025
Banca d'Italia has released new statistics on payment instruments, covering data up to December 2025. The report details trends in cashless transactions and access points across Italy.
Digital transactions dominate
Italy's payment landscape continues its rapid shift towards digital methods, with cashless payment operations reaching nearly 4 billion transactions and a total value exceeding €3.3 trillion by the fourth quarter of 2025.
Card payments remain the dominant instrument, accounting for over 2.8 billion transactions in Q4 2025, significantly outpacing credit transfers and direct debits.
This trend highlights a strong consumer preference for electronic transactions over traditional methods.
Conversely, cheques continue their sharp decline, representing a negligible share of both the number and value of operations, signaling their near obsolescence in the modern Italian payment system.
The overall growth in cashless transactions underscores the ongoing modernization of payment habits nationwide.
Evolving infrastructure and instant payments
The evolution of payment infrastructure mirrors the shift in consumer behavior.
The number of physical ATMs in Italy has steadily decreased, while the deployment of POS terminals for card payments has continued to expand, reflecting the growing ubiquity of card acceptance.
Furthermore, the data reveals a significant migration of credit transfers towards online channels, with a notable surge in the adoption of instant payment schemes (SCT Inst).
This acceleration in real-time transactions indicates a demand for faster and more efficient money movement, reshaping the operational landscape for financial institutions and users alike.
A clear path to digital payments
The data clearly illustrates Italy's accelerating shift towards digital payment methods, reflecting broader European trends and consumer preferences for speed and convenience.
This transition, while efficient, necessitates ongoing vigilance from regulators to ensure inclusivity and robust cybersecurity for all users.
The continued decline of cash access points further underscores the urgency for secure and universally accessible digital alternatives.
Source: New statistics on payment instruments
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