Months have passed; bars are full, receipts are steady, businesses are reopening. It’s approaching the level seen in 2019, and many firms have managed to restore almost all operations, if not grow beyond. The money circulating is back, but the flow looks different. Cash usage has declined, and cards have become the dominant method for everyday payments. This trend reflects a broader shift in consumer behavior that has persisted long after the peak of the health crisis.
Analysis of Sabadell Bank’s network activity in the province aligns with national figures released by the Bank of Spain, underscoring a regional pattern that matches the countrywide snapshot. After a sharp drop to 33% in 2020, cash withdrawals and deposits at Sabadell branches and ATMs remain subdued, still about 27% below pre-pandemic levels. Specifically, cash transactions have stayed roughly 34% lower and withdrawals around 22% lower than before the crisis. In contrast, card payments processed through bank-managed POS terminals in the region surged, standing 49.66% above 2019 levels.
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The evolution of electronic money gives businesses tangible advantages beyond the convenience of POS terminals. Card payments enable banks to see where money flows, revealing customer preferences and needs. That insight makes it easier to bundle products or extend loans with a clearer understanding of a client’s financial background. It is part of a broader move toward digitization that intensified during the pandemic and has continued to reshape the payments landscape. Sabadell notes a sustained reduction in ATM demand, reflected in a slower ATMs network as demand declines.
And as with many other sectors, the pandemic accelerated the digitization of money. This ongoing shift has been so pronounced that Sabadell considers it irreversible, a view reinforced by the ongoing decrease in ATM availability.
In the two pandemic years, almost 2,900 terminals disappeared nationwide, a trend not limited to any single region but observed across Spain. Industry sources note that shopping centers increasingly lack ATMs because maintaining them is no longer financially viable. Yet the same period saw a rise in Active POS usage, expanding by about 268,000 terminals to 2,210,994. This shift helped card-paid volume reach 195,246 million, while ATM withdrawals totaled 111,131 million in Spain last year, marking a point where card payments surpassed cash withdrawals for the first time since 2016.
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Vincent Armengol, president of the Heart of Alicante Merchants Association and vice-president of provincial Facpyme, notes that the pandemic has forced a complete rethink among customers and merchants. The era of demanding a minimum payment to accept cards has ended, he says, stressing that depositing funds directly into business accounts has become a convenient option. Armengol adds that the rise of card use also spurs impulsive purchases. If a shopper sees something priced at 25 but only has 20, the card often closes the gap, he emphasizes.
Of course, costs remain a concern. Armengol points out that the card processing service is expensive and tends to stay high, especially today when many small shops watch every penny in the face of inflation.
Banks have already closed 61% of their branches in Alicante
The broader use of electronic money reduces the need to visit physical offices, contributing to branch network reductions. The Bank of Spain’s latest data shows that by the end of the first quarter there were 629 operating branches, which is 110 fewer than in 2021 and 64% lower than pre-crisis levels. The pace of branch closures mirrors a structural shift toward digital banking rather than a temporary adjustment.
Less debt and less deposits in the bank
Over the past year, Alicante’s residents have cut their indebtedness substantially while their balances in current accounts declined. Bank of Spain figures show total loans extended by financial institutions at the end of the first quarter reached 33,952 million euros, down about 6,000 million from a year earlier. Some of this decrease reflects the repayment of ICO loans many firms drew during the pandemic and the amortization of mortgages as households brace for higher interest rates.
The flip side of reduced debt is a smaller pool of savings. The overall savings held in banks dropped to 36,847 million euros, nearly 3.5 billion less than March 2021. Shifting financial needs and cautious spending patterns accompany the wider move toward digital payments and fewer in-person visits to branches, a trend corroborated by national data and local market observations.