In countries such as France, Spain and Italy, cash remains embedded in daily behaviour, even among digitally confident consumers. This coexistence is not transitional; it is structural. Cash fulfils roles that digital payments have not entirely replaced: budgeting, social exchange, privacy and, increasingly, resilience.Western Europe is often described as digitally advanced, and with good reason. Card penetration is high, mobile banking is widely adopted and real‑time payments are becoming mainstream. Yet u ...