Croatian citizens use digital devices more and more, mainly smart phones, four hours a day on average, and 82% use mobile phones to pay bills, according to the findings of a MasterIndex survey.

The online survey was conducted last October, covering 1,018 users of banking services in Croatia aged 18-55.

According to 92%, retailers must offer various payment methods, primarily cards, but also cash, mobile apps, digital wallets and cryptocurrency.

Eighty-five percent of respondents pay by card, mostly younger ones, those with university degrees and higher incomes, 67% prefer cash payments, 54% pay by mobile phone apps, and one in three mentioned digital wallets.

Respondents would like to use smartwatches, IDs and biometrics more for payments.

Nearly 50% of respondents are satisfied with the expansion of digital services, which they also use on laptop and desktop computers, on which they spend 3.7 hours a day on average.

They watch smart TV for an average of two hours a day and tablets for 30 minutes. Women and those under 29 spend the most time on mobile phones, 4.5 and 5.2 hours a day, respectively.

Croatia led the way in digital payments in 2021 and 2022, the director of Mastercard Croatia, Gea Kariž, has said.

Croatia reached 64 points on a scale of 100, surpassing the other countries in the region, and there has been a 30% rise in the number and a 48% rise in the value of online card transactions in the last three years, along with a drop in the use of cash, she added.