Are We Moving To A Cashless Society?

There's been a lot of talk over the years of governments pushing us into a cashless society. It turns out we may be heading there without any help.

YouGov surveyed more than 3,600 adults in Great Britain and found that we're already moving away from paying with actual cash money.

The question was, "When is the last time you can recall using cash?"

The number one answer across all participants, at 32%, was "Longer than a month ago." "Within the last day or two" was second at 23%.

Predictably, more young people were likely to pay with a card or through their phone with 41% saying it had been a month or more in the 18 to 24 age group. But don't write off the older folks, from 50 and up it was almost dead even between cash and cards.

Gender didn't seem to play much of a role in this study as the breakdown between male and female followed really closely with the overall percentages. The women were only slightly less likely to use cash on a near-daily basis.

While reasons weren't given, it's hard to imagine that the current COVID-19 conditions didn't play a part. We're doing so many more things online rather than in person these days and that almost always requires some form of payment other than dollar bills.

So, how often do you use cash versus some form of digital currency? I usually pay cash when I grab a bite to eat for lunch, but if it's anything over $20 I'm almost always reaching for a card of some type. There are advantages and disadvantages to both forms of currency.

You can see the full breakdown on the YouGov website.