Cash in circulation at the end of last year amounted to Ft 65 trillion, a 75% increase in five years.

The number of purchases by bank card grew from 335 million in 2014 to more than 900 million in 2019 and total turnover expanded from Ft 2.3 trillion to Ft 6.6 trillion in the same period.

Switching from cash to electronic payments would cut costs due to the high handling costs of cash, Trencsán noted, adding that she expects a significant increase in the use of bank cards in the current situation.

The new instant payment scheme launched on March 1 handled one million transactions in its first two and half days, according to MNB data.