OREANDA-NEWS. November 15, 2011. According to TNS Emor, which has been mapping the financial behaviour of Estonia's households, the role of cash in payment habits and income receipts has remarkably declined, reported the press-centre of Bank of Estonia.

According to the survey conducted in September, 59% of the respondents prefer to pay by card for their daily purchases (in 2009, the share was just 44%). About a tenth of households uses either only cash or only a bank card to pay for their daily purchases.

"The share of residents using secure and convenient payment means is on the rise. It is likely that the adoption of the euro has also affected payment habits," said Mihkel Nommela, Head of the Payment and Settlement Systems Department of Eesti Pank.

The survey also revealed that the use of Internet payments has soared across all household groups over the past year. The share of households making regular Internet payments has risen from 91% in 2009 to 96% this year. Non-bank channels are still used by every fourth household and their share is declining.

According to Nommela, the next big step in the field of payments is full implementation of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). "The Estonian people often feel the different level of banking services in Europe, when it is impossible to pay by card, a bank transfer takes a lot of time, or when they are unable to purchase something from a European e-store. SEPA improves communication between payment systems and makes payments faster and more efficient," he said.

According to the survey, six out of a hundred employees receive their income in cash, whereas lower-paid people are more often paid in cash than others. When making purchases, pensioners and lower-paid people tend to use cash instead of bank cards, but the share of pensioners paying by card is increasing.

13% of the respondents have bought goods or services from foreign e-stores over the past year. TNS Emor is of the opinion that this number will go up, since 21% of the respondents said they were going to purchase from foreign traders the following year. The TNS Emor survey included 981 households, with people aged 18-74 questioned. The survey was commissioned by Eesti Pank.

TNS Emor has been conducting the F-monitoring survey since 1998. The aim of the survey is to map changes in the Estonian residents' use of money and financial-behaviour possibilities and desires.