Cash And Cards Still (Mostly) Rule Retail Payments

As far as the popularity rankings of payment methods go in the U.S., there’s movement in each direction by the top two categories — but not by much.

It’s the third most popular option — as well as one way down near the bottom of the rankings — that are showing the most potential energy, by comparison.

Chain Store Age shares that, according to a new study from Blackhawk Network (called “How America Pays”), cash remains the most popular payment method among U.S. consumers for the second year in a row, but while in 2015 (the first year of the Blackhawk study) 93 percent of respondents reported to have used it, the number dropped this year to 87 percent.

Credit cards — the second most commonly used payment method, according to the study — moved slightly in the opposite direction between this year and last, from 68 percent to 69 percent.

Meanwhile, shares CSA, PayPal has emerged as the most popular digital payment option among U.S. consumers, rising from 62 percent to 67 percent year over year among respondents to the Blackhawk survey, while mobile wallets more than doubled in popularity during that time frame, reportedly rising from an 8 percent use rate in 2015 to 17 percent in 2016.

“Consumers now have so many payment tools at their disposal; they can be selective about how they pay and are even influenced on where to shop based on their experiences paying,” stated David Tate, senior VP of products and marketing at Blackhawk Network.