Cashless Society? Are We Nearly There?

Maybe the cards filling up consumers’ wallets are just making less room for cash, but nearly eight out of 10 (78 percent) U.S. consumers carry less than $50 with them at any one time, with 49 percent carrying $20 or less, new survey data show.

By gender, women appear to be further along the road to a cashless society than men, as 86 percent of women carried less that $50 compared with 70 percent of men, according to Bankrate.com’s report.

“If we move to a truly cashless society, it won’t be much of an adjustment for most Americans,” Greg McBride, Bankrate.com chief financial analyst, said in the announcement of the findings. “The vast majority of Americans carry $50 or less on a daily basis, which seems to indicate that it’s more out of necessity than a desire to pay with cash.”

The report did not specify whether the amounts of cash folks are holding today are any different from what they were five or 10 years ago.

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