Coffee and croissant go cashless: digital payments surge in Italy’s bars

Paying for breakfast with a card is no longer unusual in Italy. In 2025, cashless transactions in bars and cafés grew by 42%, with the sharpest increase recorded in the early morning hours between 6:00 and 10:00 a.m. (+44%). At the same time, the average digital receipt dropped to €11.1 (-4.2% vs. 2024), confirming that Italians are now routinely using cards even for small purchases like a cappuccino at the counter.

According to the SumUp Bar and Café Cashless Observatory, which analyzed payment trends over the first eight months of 2025, southern provinces led the shift. Campobasso (+167.9%), Catanzaro (+113.3%), and Palermo (+90.2%) showed the strongest growth in digital transactions, followed by Ragusa and Sassari.

The study also highlights that 43% of all cashless payments are made before 2:00 p.m., showing how mornings now dominate Italy’s digital breakfast culture. Meanwhile, Bolzano posted the lowest average digital ticket (€9.9), while Piacenza, Bologna, Fermo, and Prato also ranked among the most “cashless-savvy” provinces.