Cash is declining, but not disappearing
Cash means the banknotes and coins that are legal tender. It remains the most universal payment method, even as its share shrinks year after year. In the euro area, cash accounted for just 52% of point-of-sale payments by number in 2024 (down from 59% in 2022 and 72% in 2019), according to the ECB's SPACE study. France is below that average: cards have taken over there, driven by contactless.
Limits, cost, and access
The cash payment limit is the amount above which paying in notes and coins is no longer lawful. In France, a cash payment to a business is capped at €1,000 for an individual who is a French tax resident, under France's Monetary and Financial Code. The cap rises to €15,000 for a non-resident acting in a private capacity. At the EU level, the new Anti-Money Laundering Regulation (AMLR, 2024) sets a harmonized cap of €10,000 on cash payments, applicable from 2027.
| Case | Limit | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Resident individual paying a business | 1 000 € | Monetary and Financial Code (Art. D112-3) |
| Non-resident individual (private purchase) | 15 000 € | Monetary and Financial Code |
| EU harmonized cap (cash purchases) | 10 000 € | Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 (AMLR), from 2027 |
Checks: a collapse (and a fraud problem)
A check is a written order in which an account holder instructs their bank to pay a specified sum to a named payee. France was long the land of the check, and it still accounts for most of the checks written in the euro area. Usage is collapsing nonetheless, falling roughly 10% a year, and this declining payment method has the highest fraud rate of any. A check is a paper instrument that is easy to forge, steal, or divert, with no strong authentication and no cryptography.
Inclusion: the other side of the coin
Financial inclusion means that everyone can access and use payment methods. The decline of cash and checks hits people unevenly, because some groups still depend on them: older people, people in financial hardship, the unbanked and underbanked, as well as nonprofits and some rural communities. Cash lets people pay without a bank account, stick to a cash-envelope budget, and stay anonymous. Checks are still used for security deposits, donations, and local payments.
Elsewhere in the world. The same mechanism, elsewhere.
Legal limits on cash payments
In Italy, the cap on cash transfers has been €5,000 since January 1, 2023. The 2023 budget law raised it from €2,000 by amending Article 49 of Legislative Decree 231/2007. Penalties apply to both payer and payee: €1,000 to €50,000 for transactions up to €250,000.
Legge 29 dicembre 2022 n. 197 (legge di bilancio 2023), art. 1 comma 384, amending art. 49 of D.Lgs. 231/2007
In India, Section 269ST of the Income-tax Act, introduced by the Finance Act 2017, prohibits receiving ₹200,000 (2 lakh) or more in cash from one person in a single day, for a single transaction, or for a single event or occasion. The penalty equals the amount received and falls on the recipient, not the payer. The government, banks, and post offices are exempt.
Income-tax Act 1961, Section 269ST (Finance Act 2017), Income Tax Department, India
In the US, no federal limit caps cash payments; a reporting requirement applies instead. Any business that receives more than $10,000 in cash, in one transaction or in related transactions, must file Form 8300 with the IRS and FinCEN within 15 days and keep a copy for five years.
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/form-8300-and-reporting-cash-payments-of-over-10000
The UK has no cap either, but it does have a registration threshold. Any “high value dealer” that accepts or makes cash payments of €10,000 or more (or the equivalent in another currency) for goods must register with HMRC under the Money Laundering Regulations.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/money-laundering-regulations-high-value-dealer-registration
Whether merchants must accept cash
In Norway, the Financial Contracts Act (finansavtaleloven, Section 2-1, third paragraph, amended in June 2024) has required every business with regular sales premises to accept cash since October 1, 2024. The rule does not apply when the amount due exceeds NOK 20,000, or to vending machines and unstaffed premises. Since May 1, 2025, refusing cash can draw an administrative fine, and the Norwegian Consumer Authority (Forbrukertilsynet) acts as the appeals body.
https://www.norges-bank.no/en/topics/notes-and-coins/the-right-to-pay-cash/
In the US, nothing requires a merchant to accept cash. The Federal Reserve notes that no federal law obliges a private business to accept notes and coins: legal tender status under 31 U.S.C. 5103 applies to settling debts, not to the payment methods a store chooses to accept. Only some state or city laws require acceptance.
https://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/currency_12772.htm
In the euro area, Commission Recommendation 2010/191/EU of March 22, 2010 states that accepting euro notes and coins should be the rule in retail transactions, and that refusal is allowed only for reasons of good faith (for example, when the retailer has no change). It adds that no surcharge should be imposed on cash payments.
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32010H0191
Phasing out the check
Australia has set an end date for checks. The Cheques Transition Plan, published by the Treasury in November 2024, ends check issuance on June 30, 2028 and acceptance on September 30, 2029. A committee of Treasury and industry representatives oversees the transition.
https://treasury.gov.au/publication/p2024-555854
In the US, checks are declining but not disappearing: 9.2 billion checks worth $24.45 trillion in 2024, or 4% of noncash payments by number, down from 59% in 2000, according to the Federal Reserve's triennial payments study. The average check rose from $945 in 2000 to $2,653 in 2024, as the instrument retreated to large payments.
https://www.federalreserve.gov/paymentsystems/frps_cy2015_24_topline.htm
The UK chose to digitize checks rather than abolish them. Part 4A, inserted into the Bills of Exchange Act 1882 by the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015, allows a check to be presented as an electronic image of its front and back. That removes the need to deliver the paper item, along with the delays involved.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1882/61/part/4A