The Dutch are continuing to use less and less cash when buying goods and services in the Netherlands, new figures from payment association Betaalvereniging Nederland show.

In total, 41.4% of payments last year were made in cash, down from 45% a year earlier, the association said. And 40% of payments made using direct debit cards were contactless, over double the 2016 figure.

Online shoppers are still most likely to use their computer to make purchases, but phone payments are increasingly popular, and now account for over 13% of online sales.

Cash is being phased out in shops and on trams and buses too. Amsterdam’s public transport system has been cash free since earlier this year, and various shops, such as Marqt and the Vlaamse Broodhuis, no longer accept coins or notes.

A report by the European central bank last November said the Dutch are the least likely of all eurozone Europeans to use cash and that Netherlands is the only country in the eurozone where cashless payments outstrip notes and coins.