More Than a Third of People Think Cash Will Become Obsolete in the Next 25 Years

A new survey by B2B comparison site Expert Market has revealed what the public think of current payment methods, including views on cash vs. card and the likelihood of a future cashless society. When quizzed on the future of cash, 39% of millennials, and more than a third of generation X (34%) and baby boomers (34%) thought that cash would become obsolete in the next 25 years.

The survey, conducted by independent facilitator Vivatic, gathered information from over 1,600 respondents and filtered results by three age brackets: Millennials, Generation X and Baby Boomers.

Cash, especially for millennials, is rapidly decreasing in popularity; 33% of millennials categorically avoid using cash, 1 in 5 millennials carry less than £5 – making big cash purchases impossible and nearly half (46%) are put off buying from a cash only store.

Such is their adversity to cash that nearly a quarter of millennials (24%) have thrown away change to avoid carrying it and a further 41% prefer to pay their friends back via apps rather than cash.

The survey showed that 68% of millennials say they have wanted to purchase from a store but have not been able to due to it being cash only, this is closely followed by 56% of generation X and 50% of baby boomers. Such widespread frustration is troubling news for small businesses and startups who fail to offer non-cash payment options and risk losing out on substantial revenue.

The survey suggests that the most prevalent reason for the move away from cash is that it is perceived to be less secure than card payments; 38% of millennials, 38% of baby boomers and 37% of generation X felt that cash was less secure than card. Other popular reasons for avoiding cash included it being unnecessary, heavy and limiting.

Lucy Crossfield, lead researcher for Expert Market comments: “This survey clearly suggests that card payment options are essential for the modern market with the majority of people surveyed saying that cash only stores had prevented them from purchasing goods. This is a wake up call for cash only businesses to future proof their services.”

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