Less than half of Canadians expected to use cash by 2020, says research

With mobile payment options becoming increasingly more prevalent in every day life, cash has seemingly become less commonly used by many people.

In fact, according to the ‘Lost in Transaction’ report from global payments provider Paysafe, 51 percent of Canadian consumers are expected to do away with using cash entirely by 2020.

Paysafe also found that 56 percent of Canadian consumers visit an ATM only once a month, while 19 percent said they rarely carry cash at all. Finally, Paysafe reported that 64 percent of people rely less on cash than a year ago, marking the gradual decline in use of the physical currency.

Instead, a greater number of Canadians are turning to contactless payment options, such as credit or debit cards and Apple Pay or Android Pay on their smartphones.

Paysafe says 58 percent of Canadian consumers reported using contactless at least once, with 71 percent saying it’s a more convenient payment method than cash. What’s more, 48 percent even said they prefer to go to shops that accept contactless. Fifty-three percent of Canadians also said they’re increasingly  confident about using their phones for shopping.

However, not everyone is so quick to get on board with contactless payments. According to Paysafe:

• Half of consumers reported concerns that that they’ll be charged the wrong amount when using contactless
• Thirty-four percent said they worried their phones could be stolen and their accounts compromised through saved credit/debit cards
• Twenty-eight percent said they don’t even want to take their phones out to pay at all

Source: Business Wire