85% of U.S. consumers will likely walk out of a business where they can't use their preferred payment choice (SQ, 2021)

This statistic is from Square’s Making Change Report.

Based on the latest available Square payments data, the report examines the use of cash versus cashless payment options. It notes that, from February 2020 to the end of February 2021, the share of businesses reporting they are cashless has doubled in Australia, Britain, Canada, and the U.S. It has also close to doubled in Japan, though the country's overall share of cash transactions remains far higher than the other surveyed countries, at around 76 percent.

In America, the largest shift towards cashless businesses has been seen in Washington D.C., Vermont and Maine. States seeing the smallest rise in cashless businesses include Idaho, Arkansas and Nebraska.

American Attitudes to Cash

Square surveyed 1,000 business owners and 1,000 consumers across America to assess their opinions on the future of cash. 73 percent of consumers and 68 percent of business owners do not believe the country will ever become completely cashless.

65 percent of consumers believe cashless businesses are less inclusive than those that accept cash, and 85 percent said they were likely to walk away from a business at which they are unable to use their preferred payment method.

About Square

Square is an American financial services and digital payments provider founded in 2009 and based in San Francisco, California.