New research from SSRS examines how American adults are paying for goods and services. The findings include:
- How Often Do U.S. Adults Carry Cash?
- How Much Cash Do U.S. Adults Carry?
- Mobile or Online Payment Services U.S. Adults Use; Includes a Comparison to 2020 Data
- Tap, Insert, or Swipe? How U.S. Adults Pay in Person with a Credit or Debit Card
These findings are part of an SSRS Opinion Panel poll conducted September 9 – 23, 2024, among a nationally representative sample of 3,364 adults aged 18 and older.
How Often Do U.S. Adults Carry Cash?
A new SSRS Opinion Panel poll finds that about half (46%) of U.S. adults carry cash always or most of the time on an average day when they leave home; 20% carry cash sometimes, while 34% rarely or never carry cash.
Older adults are significantly more likely than younger adults to carry cash always or most of the time. More than two-thirds (69%) of adults aged 65+ report that they always or most of the time carry cash, compared with only 34% of adults aged 18-29. Fully half (50%) of 18–29-year-olds and 46% of 30-49-year-olds rarely or never carry cash.
Men (59%) are significantly more likely than women (36%) to report that they carry cash always or most of the time. This pattern is the same within each age group except 18-29-year-olds, where the about equal proportions of men (36%) and women (34%) say they carry cash almost always or most of the time. Among adults aged 65+, more than three-fourths of men (77%) and a majority of women (58%) report carrying cash always or most of the time.
How Much Cash Do U.S. Adults Carry?
The SSRS Opinion Panel poll also finds that about half of adults (46%) carry between $11 and $50 when they leave home. The median amount that adults carry is $20. About one in five adults (22%) carry more than $50.
More than three in ten adults aged 65+ (31%) report that they carry more than $50, compared with only 13% of adults aged 18-29. One-third of men (33%) report carrying $50 or more in cash, compared to 13% of women.
Adults aged 18-29 (23%) are significantly more likely than adults aged 65+ (6%) to report that they never carry cash or that on average they carry zero dollars.
Mobile or Online Payment Services U.S. Adults Use
The SSRS Opinion Panel poll finds that U.S. adults use a variety of mobile or online payment services. PayPal is used by 44% of adults, Venmo by 39%, Zelle by 37%, and Cash App by 28%.
Nearly one-fourth (23%) report that they do not use mobile or online payment services, including fully half (50%) of adults aged 65+. In contrast, only 9% of 18-29-year-olds say they do not use mobile or online payment services.
Not surprisingly, the use of mobile or online payment services varies significantly by household income. Nearly four in ten (39%) adults with household incomes of less than $25,000 a year report that they do not use these services, compared with only 13% of those with household incomes of $75,000 or more.
Among adults with household incomes under $25,000 a year, the most used mobile or online payment service is Cash App (35%). Use of PayPal (56%), Venmo (59%), and Zelle (48%) is most common among those with household incomes of $75,000 a year or more.
The payment services most used by White adults are PayPal (47%) and Venmo (44%). The most used payment service among Black adults is Cash App (59%), and among Hispanic adults the most used is Zelle (54%). White adults are significantly more likely than Black or Hispanic adults to use PayPal and Venmo. Hispanic and Black adults are more likely than White adults to use Zelle and Cash App.
Men and women are similar in their usage of particular online payment services except Cash App, where reported use by women (33%) is significantly higher than by men (21%). Women aged 30-49 (42% to 32%) and 50-64 (30% to 18%) are more likely than men of the same ages to report using Cash App. More than six in ten 18-29-year-old women (61%) report using Zelle, the highest usage of that online payment service of any group.
A 2020 SSRS Opinion Panel poll also found that PayPal was the most used payment service (54%), followed by Venmo (27%), Zelle (22%), and Cash App (19%). Use of PayPal decreased between 2020 and 2024, while use of the other three payment services tested in both surveys increased.
Tap, Insert, or Swipe? How U.S. Adults Pay in Person with a Credit or Debit Card
The physical act of using a credit or debit card has evolved rapidly over the years. Originally, you had to swipe your card at the payment terminal. Then, chips in cards allowed you to insert them into the machines. Now, most terminals allow you to simply tap your card or use a mobile wallet on your phone to make payments. As a result, shoppers today have the option to use any combination of these options when they go to make a payment.
The SSRS Opinion Panel poll finds that the most used option among U.S. adults to pay in person with a credit or debit card is still inserting their card. More than half (52%) report inserting their card always or most of the time, compared to 35% tapping their card, 15% swiping their card, and 12% using a mobile wallet (e.g., Apple Wallet or Google Wallet) on their phone.
Inserting their card is the most used option for all age groups except 18-29-year-olds, who are more likely to report that they tap their card. More than half of 18-29-year-olds (52%) say they tap their card always or most of the time, compared to 23% of adults aged 65+.
Nearly four in ten 18-29-year-olds (39%) report using a mobile wallet on their phone always or most of the time to pay in person with a credit or debit card, compared to only 3% of adults aged 65+.
Methodology
Interviews for this study were conducted on the SSRS Opinion Panel on September 9 – 23, 2024, among a nationally representative sample of 3,364 respondents aged 18 and older. The margin of error for total respondents is +/-2.7 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. The design effect is 2.49. The SSRS Opinion Panel is a multi-mode panel (web and phone). Most panelists take self-administered web surveys; however, the option to take surveys conducted by a live telephone interviewer is available to those who do not use the internet as well as those who use the internet but are reluctant to take surveys online. Panelists take surveys in their preferred language (English or Spanish). All sample drawn for this study were SSRS Opinion Panelists who are U.S. adults ages 18 or older.
SSRS Opinion Panel members are recruited randomly based on nationally representative ABS (Address Based Sample) design (including Hawaii and Alaska). ABS respondents are randomly sampled by Marketing Systems Group (MSG) through the U.S. Postal Service’s Computerized Delivery Sequence File (CDS), a regularly-updated listing of all known addresses in the U.S. For the SSRS Opinion Panel, known business addresses are excluded from the sample frame. Additional panelists are recruited via random digit dial (RDD) telephone sample of cell phone numbers connected to a prepaid cell phone. This sample is selected by MSG from the cell phone RDD frame using a flag that identifies prepaid numbers. Prepaid cell numbers are associated with cell phones that are “pay as you go” and do not require a contract.
All SSRS Opinion Panel data are weighted to represent the target population of U.S. adults ages 18 or older. View the questions used for this analysis, along with the responses >>. The questionnaire was developed and the data analyzed by SSRS contributor, John M. Benson, with assistance from the SSRS team.
John M. Benson is a public opinion researcher, academic writer, and editor with over thirty years’ experience examining public attitudes about health policy and other domestic policy issues. He has directed numerous national and international polling projects leading to more than 100 publications in New England Journal of Medicine, Health Affairs, JAMA, Public Opinion Quarterly, Emerging Infectious Diseases, Public Health Reports, Milbank Quarterly, Social Science Research, and other domestic policy and polling journals. He is also co-author of American Public Opinion and Health Care (CQ Press).
How often do U.S. adults carry cash?
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About SSRS
SSRS is breaking the mold on what research companies can do. A full-service market and survey research firm, we use the latest data collection best practices and apply cutting-edge survey methodologies backed by insight from our industry-leading team. We have genuine enthusiasm for our work and a shared goal to connect people through research. Our solutions include groundbreaking approaches fit for purpose: the SSRS Opinion Panel, Encipher, SSRS Virtual Insights, the SSRS Text Message panel, and more. Our research areas focus on Health Care and Health Policy, Public Opinion and Policy, Political and Election Polling, Consumer and Lifestyle, and Sports and Entertainment.
Media Contact: Karin Bandoian | SSRS Vice President of Brand and Creative Strategy
