 People in the Euro area make an average of 1.6 payments every day. As the guardian of stable prices in the Euro area, the European Central Bank closely monitors European's payment habits. So how are we paying nowadays? For one thing, we are opting more and more to pay without cash. Instead, we like to pay by card, bank transfer or direct debit, often using apps to make these payments. And some of us even still use checks. Today, the average European shopper has one and a half payment cards in their wallet. Shop owners are busy updating their card terminals so they can offer contactless payments. But not all Europeans have the same payment habits. People in Spain and Greece use cash for most of their day-to-day purchases. Estonians and Finns, on the other hand, make less than half of their payments with cash. Checks have disappeared in most European countries, but not everywhere. Cash remains important. It is used for more than 75% of all day-to-day payments in the Euro area. In 2002, the value of Euros in circulation was 230 billion. In 2017, it is five times as much, 1.1 trillion. That's partly because the number of countries using the Euro has risen. In this time of changing payment trends, the European central bank continues to foster safe and secure payments for all Europeans. The ECB does this by continually improving the security features of Euro banknotes. For both cash and electronic payments, the ECB promotes innovation. This ensures that we can make payments all over Europe, safe and efficient. So when making a payment, we know that we are in good hands. Today and tomorrow.