Paris (France) (AFP) – Bank card payments have never been so widespread, and yet the French remain attached to cash in the face of natural disasters, social crises and geopolitical instability, according to a survey by Monnaie de Paris published Monday.

Published on: 09/11/2026 - 12:54

“We are in a world that is increasingly uncertain, tense. There are wars (...) trade wars, economic tensions, inflation, cyberattacks.” Faced with this, "cash", liquid money, "has a side which is extremely reassuring", explained to AFP Marc Schwartz, CEO of the Monnaie de Paris, a public establishment which produces French coins.

“We find in all periods of crisis this atavistic reflex which is that in case of worry, we go to the bank and we take money,” he recalls.

94% of French people use a bank card to pay for their purchases, compared to 92% in 2025, and cash comes in second place with 66% of users, a figure down over one year, according to an Ifop survey commissioned by Monnaie de Paris, with a representative sample of 2,000 people.

However, respondents judge cash to be the most trustworthy payment method in times of natural and climatic disasters (37%), institutional and political instabilities (47%), economic and financial crises (54%), and social crises (43%).

In addition, 85% of French people say they are worried about seeing cash disappear completely, with the loss of freedom being the primary reason for concern, because 86% of respondents have the feeling that their private life would then be “more controlled”.

Two thirds of those surveyed often carry cash with them, and almost 50% keep a sum of cash at home, averaging 168 euros.

The Monnaie de Paris also launched the Marianne-or in June, an investment currency in pure gold, also called bullion, with the possibility of either holding it physically or opting for the dematerialized form, the gold being in this case kept securely by the institution.

The institution has already sold 14 million euros worth of it at the end of October, a significant part of which was delivered to customers' homes.

© 2026 AFP

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