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Study: U.S. consumers prefer currency to electronic payment

Business Wire

LISLE - Despite the rise of electronic, mobile and contactless payments, physical currency remains a favored choice for U.S. consumers, a new report from Glory, a global developer of cash technology solutions, reveals.

Original global research from the 'In cash consumers trust. But how do retailers make it pay?' Report, which polled 1,500 consumers in the US, UK, and Australia, found that 48 percent still use cash on a daily basis, with those aged between 16 and 44 more likely to use cash on a frequent basis than older demographics aged over 45 (45 percent vs 42 percent).

Eighty four percent of U.S. consumers would still like the option to pay by cash while 63 percent feel it is the most secure way to pay underlining the ongoing dominance of this payment method.

In terms of new ways to pay, 61 percent of Americans trust cash more than mobile payments and 55 percent favor it over cards respectively.

Convenience also plays a key role in consumers' choice of payments, with 87 percent wanting the option to pay with cash in all transactions. This is backed up by the fact that 64 percent of consumers use cash the same amount or more than they did a year ago.

In terms of counterfeiting, less than half (44 percent) of those surveyed check their dollar bills and coins aren't fake while a similar number (46 percent) would prefer to use cash in self-checkout locations. This suggests there is room for improvement in terms of cash management in retail environments to both identify cash correctly and also successfully automate unmanned environments which use physical money.

"The role of cash as a trusted payment method continues to impact consumers' choices when it comes to ways to pay," said Joe Gnorski, Americas marketing vice president at Glory. "But while cash clearly has a strong place in shoppers' hearts - and wallets - and will have for many years to come, it is still being handled inefficiently and insecurely within many retail environments.

"The research is clear, choice for an electronic or cash payment option is important to most consumers, as such retailers need to invest more time and resource into making cash management work profitably for their organization - enhancing the customer experience when it comes to cash transactions and using process improvements and modern technology to eliminate cash handling inefficiencies and errors," he added.

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