Americans Aren’t Convinced About A Future Cashless Society

February 8, 2018

This article is included in these additional categories:

Asia-Pacific | Demographics & Audiences | Europe & Middle East | Financial Services | Industries | North America | UK

Just 1 in 5 American adults say they use cash every day, a rate lower than found in other countries including the UK (26%), China (34%) and Indonesia (80%), finds YouGov in a recent report. And while Americans also are less likely than adults in some other countries to use cash when making purchases in-store, that doesn’t translate to beliefs about a future cashless society.

To arrive at its conclusions, YouGov surveyed more than 10,000 adults across 7 countries: Denmark; Sweden; Germany; US; UK; China; and Indonesia.

Of those, Denmark and Sweden appear to be far less cash-oriented than the others; respondents in these countries are the least likely to use cash every day (6-7% reported doing so) and also the least likely to use cash when making purchases in-store (~60% doing so).

By contrast, respondents in Indonesia are the most reliant on cash: 92% profess to buying in-store using cash, and 80% said they use cash every day.

The US Goes Heavy on Plastic

While the US isn’t too dependent on cash, respondents do use credit cards at a higher rate than others. Fully 86% said they use some form of credit card payments when in-store, most commonly via chip (47%) or swipe (34%).

A high proportion of adults in the UK (79%) and Sweden (76%) also use credit cards to pay for in-store purchases, while fewer than half in Germany (48%) and Indonesia (42%) say they do so.

Just 5% in the US use contactless credit card payments, though, which sits considerably behind other countries including the UK (24%), Denmark (20%), Germany (14%) and Sweden (12%).

Americans Not So Sure About A Cashless Society

In a curious twist, respondents in Indonesia – the most cash-reliant of those surveyed – are the most likely to believe that their country will be a fully cashless society at some point in the future. An impressive 8 in 10 feel that that will be the case, against just 6% who don’t.

The US sits at the other end of the spectrum: fewer than half (46%) believe that the US will be a fully cashless society in the future. That made it the only country of the 7 tracked in which only a minority believed in a cashless future.

Previous research on this topic had found more confidence in a cashless society: in 2016, a Gallup survey revealed that more than 6 in 10 (62%) US adults felt it likely the US would be a cashless society in their lifetime. Most young Americans surveyed at the time seemed already comfortable with the prospect of a cashless society: a majority (56%) of 18-29-year-olds had said they were comfortable not carrying cash, and only a minority (42%) reported having cash on them at all times.

A comprehensive MarketingCharts study released at the time, Marketing Financial Services to Millennials, demonstrated that Millennials (18-34) were 13% less likely than the adult population to often prefer to pay cash for things they buy. The study also identified a particular subset of Millennials who are the most likely to envision a cashless society: affluent Millennials.

More details from YouGov’s report can be downloaded here.

Chart-Library-Ad-1

Explore More Articles.

Which Skills Are Important in RevOps?

Which Skills Are Important in RevOps?

9 in 10 RevOps professionals view data analysis skills as being important, a high percentage also don’t believe they need this skill for their job.

Marketing Charts Logo

Stay on the cutting edge of marketing.

Sign up for our free newsletter.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This