Tips for converting to euros are pouring in from all sides: Did you know that 1000 pesetas is 6 euros? And that you only need to divide a number in pesetas by thousands to find out its value in the new currency without a calculator? We'll also have access to calculators and conversion tables. All these practical tips, along with government campaigns and information provided by banks, consumer associations, department stores, and the media, will surely help make the euro a common element in our daily lives in no time.
Europay Internacional, licensee of MasterCard and Maestro in Europe, considered the need to understand the perceptions and expectations of merchants and consumers regarding the arrival of the new currency and conducted a qualitative study in large and small businesses and among card users.
The main problems that respondents highlighted regarding the introduction of the euro were the difficulty of rounding and decimal calculations, the fear of potential scams, the discomfort of using something unfamiliar, and the slowness of payments. Therefore, most of them spontaneously projected a greater and more intensive use of credit cards for payments in stores, due to "convenience, not having to handle two currencies" and "security, given the lack of skill, mistakes, and potential scams."
Consumer organizations and representatives of large retail chains also recommend using cards as a "trusted" method for people to become accustomed to using euros, especially during the transition period. Paying by card eliminates rounding, the peseta/euro exchange rate is exact, and reviewing bank statements afterward provides more time to understand the new currency.
Another conclusion we can draw from the aforementioned study is the passive, waiting attitude toward the arrival of the euro, which is perceived as a "common problem for everyone" and inevitable, about which there is little information. The study also shows that the issue worries older people more, with a certain nostalgia for the peseta, than young people, who have a more confident and passive attitude, and much more women, traditionally responsible for daily shopping, than men, who have a more global and carefree perspective on day-to-day finances.
The Europay International study also suggests that the arrival of the euro is perceived as a distant event, met with "resignation to an accepted fact," and that the currency still feels like it "doesn't belong anywhere." The use of cards, especially in the first months after the currency's introduction, is described as a "friendly, convenient, safe, and familiar" way to begin this new phase.
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