Cash Use Slips As Digital Payments Grow, Says Worldpay Survey

As credit and debit cards—and their digital doppelgangers—continue to find favor among consumers, the use of cash over the past 10 years has slipped from 44% of in-store spend to 15% in 2024, finds the latest Worldpay Global Payments Report.

Released Tuesday, the report, now in its 10^th year, says the decline of cash has plateaued in many markets. But cash use is expected to decline globally at a rate of 2% compounded annually through 2030.

Cash use  in North America—Canada and the United States—stood at 20% in 2024, but remains high in other markets, such as the Middle East and Africa where 82% of transactions are made with cash.

Still, the digital transformation of payments in the past 10 years has been relentless. Digital payments, which Worldpay defines as digital wallets, account-to-account payments, buy now, pay later methods, and cryptocurrency, increased from 3% of global in-person shopping value in 2014 to 38% last year.

Globally, the value of transactions made with digital wallets increased from $1.6 trillion in 2014 to $15.7 trillion in 2024, while the value of BNPL e-commerce transactions increased to $342 billion from $2.3 billion.

“The past decade’s payment revolution was driven by advancing mobile technology and societal shifts, particularly during the global pandemic. Merchants who tapped into the changing trends early have thrived. The ongoing proliferation of digital technologies will shape commerce by further merging online and in-store experiences, enhancing convenience, reliability, security, and speed,” Adam Coyle, Worldpay chief strategy officer, says in a statement.

While use of digital payments has grown, cards continue to be important to commerce, Worldpay says, with the addition of one-click checkout, installment options, and digital wallet compatibility. When accounting for use of cards in digital wallets and direct use on e-commerce sites, approximately $29 trillion, or 65% of 2024 consumer spending, can be attributed to cards, it says.

Worldpay also forecasts that global e-commerce spending will exceed $10 trillion by 2030, up from $6.8 trillion in 2024.

Worldpay also tracked the use of smart phones in e-commerce, which increased from 19% of global e-commerce spend in 2014 to 57% in 2024. “The rise of smartphone use while shopping in person has been even more dramatic: Digital payments’ (A2A, BNPL, wallets) share of POS value rose from 3% in 2014 to 38% in 2024,” the Worldpay report says. It predicts that, by 2030, 53% of in-person shopping will be done with mobile devices.

Within the United States, Worldpay found that 40% of digital wallet users load a credit card as their primary funding source, followed by debit card, 22%, and bank account, 22%. Credit cards, overall, are the most used payment method.

“Driven by card use, digital wallets are the leading payment method online and are forecast to nearly double their share of in-person value from 16% in 2024 to 30% in 2030,” the report says about U.S. payment options.

Worldpay also suggests account-to-account payments, notably potential pay by bank options, could affect its future A2A forecasts, and cites as an example Walmart Inc.’s expected pay by bank option for e-commerce transactions, developed in an agreement with Fiserv Inc. and set to launch this year.