Cash Still Dominates in Many Merchant Sectors, ATM Network’s Survey Shows

In this age of mobile payments, online commerce, and millions of places to use plastic payment cards, cash remains highly relevant and popular with consumers, the nation’s leading retailer ATM network insists. Houston-based Cardtronics Inc. on Thursday released results of a survey showing that consumers use cash far more than any other payment method to pay other people, and cash also remains the leading payment method in many merchant sectors.

“Cash is king for many consumers, even in today’s expanding universe of digital-payment options,” Tom Pierce, chief marketing officer at Cardtronics,” said in a statement. “Our survey data clearly shows that in a competitive payments environment, cash is a predominant payment form and sits atop multiple spending categories.”

The results come from a late 2015 survey of more than 1,000 U.S. adults. The survey asked, “What type of payment have you used in the past year for the following situations?” Cardtronics listed seven payments scenarios in which cash leads, and then the runner-up:

• Paying someone back: cash, 78%; checks, 18%.

• Convenience-store purchases: 63%; debit cards, 41%.

• Snacks away from home: 67%; debit cards, 37%.

• Grocery store: 52%; debit cards, 51%.

• Payments to small businesses: 49%; credit cards, 43%.

• Restaurants: 53%; credit cards, 48%.

• Tipping: 78%; credit cards 27%.

Not surprisingly, the survey found that nearly 70% of Americans use cash to buy small, inexpensive items.

Cardtronics also challenged the conventional wisdom that Millennials are enthralled with high-tech payments. While 57% of young adults surveyed reported using more payment methods than before, 45% said they are more likely to pay more with cash now than they were a few years ago, the company said.

“There is a myth in the marketplace that Millennials have abandoned cash in favor of mobile and other digital payments. It’s simply not true,” said Pierce. “Millennials take an open-minded view of payments and cash plays a pivotal role in their payment choice mix.”

Cardtronics’ findings are the second survey in a month to report on cash’s continuing popularity.