Cash, for all its shortcomings, provides freedom. Freedom of privacy. Freedom of Speed. And cash can still can produce a discount. Americans do love their cash for a variety of reasons, and those firms that are ensuring the access we have to cash remains constant are well aware of this fact.
Convenient and easy to use – consumers want their preferred payment method to deliver on both aspects, and they feel most payment methods do so to some extent. However, when asked to choose which payment method best delivers the ease and convenience, consumers (38% and 44%, respectively) chose cash.
And beyond the ease of use, familiarity with how to transact, and assurance of data security, cash is still a good way to build and preserve trust.
The survey results also expose cash’s popularity when it comes to P2P payments among family and friends. Despite increasing usage of person-to-person payment apps (bank and non-bank), cash remains the most commonly used payment method for paying people back. Over the past six months, 62% of consumers used cash for P2P payments, with non-bank P2P apps (33% of consumers) displacing checks (31% of consumers).
Mercator Advisory Group believes cash will also retain its position as a preferred payment method as a hedge against losses of power. Keeping a certain amount of literal cash on hand in case of emergency is a lesson learned in many families, and will likely to continue for the foreseeable future. It may be true that cash no longer holds the pre-eminent position it once occupied, but it is not going away anytime soon either.
Overview by Joseph Walent, Associate Director, Customer Interactions Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
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