The statistic comes from the February 2020 Health of Cash Study, independently produced by Javelin Strategy and Research and sponsored by CardTronics.
This fifth annual examination of U.S. consumer payment habits provides an in-depth analysis of daily usage, bill payment, remittance and P2P activity. It takes a holistic look at where and how cash usages is changing in America.
The 2019 market size for consumer-based cash payments reached $1.33 trillion. Cash payments made by consumers fall into four main categories, each of varying sizes:
- Cash payments to buy goods or services: $447 billion
- Cash transfers: $440 billion
- Cash bill payments: $268 billion
- Cash P2P: $165 billion
Cash is the most used payment method. Eight in ten consumers (83%) say they have used cash for a purchase or a bill payment in the past 30 days.
Cash usage is about choice, not an aversion to digital payments. The more often consumers use cash, the more likely they are to make payments overall, using a variety of payment methods.
Consumers do not want cashless stores, they want the choice to use cash. Eight in 10 (82%) of consumers feel it is important that merchants allow cash payments.
