The amount of cash being utilised by U.S. citizens for every day transactions is rapidly on the decline, recent data reveals.
Almost one in three Americans does not use cash for everyday needs, while nearly half admit they feel okay leaving the house without carrying “real money”.
According to data from the Pew Research Center, as almost a third of U.S. citizens do not use cash anymore for daily necessities or even weekly spending.
The Pew Research centre has been tracking the cashless trend in the United States since 2015, as Americans may be well on the path towards becoming a cash-free society.
The latest study published by the organisation reveals that 29% of all adults do not use cash for weekly purchases; a significant jump from the 24% recorded in 2015.
Meanwhile, the amount of people claiming to use cash for the majority of their transactions, if not all, fell to 18% from the 24% reported in 2015.
The research also found that the number of consumers going cashless is generally directly proportional to their household income. Therefore, the higher the household income, the less likely the person is to use cash for everyday needs, and vice versa.
According to the survey, 41% of consumers with a household income of $75,000 or more did not make use of cash for daily necessities, while only 18% of adults with a household income of under $30,000 chose to abandon cash.
The study also showed that age also factored into the cashless trend. When it comes to going cash-free, 34% of adults under 50 were found to not carry cash, compared to the 23% of all participants 50 and over.
In a separate research study from the Federal Reserve, ATM cash withdrawals also saw a sharp decline, falling 2.8% from 2016 to 2017.
Noting and analysing such patterns is crucial for financial markets and retail bankers. Examining the cashless trend will help these institutions make better informed decisions regarding the positioning of their ATMs, as well as offering alternative opportunities for consumer transactions.
At deVere, this need for alternative channels of payment has been recognised, and deVere Vault has been offered as a solution. Vault has been launched as a global money application which allows users to store, transfer, and exchange currency to and from personal accounts, offering an alternative for traditional banking and providing clients with the ability to freely and securely make contactless payments.
