Civic Science: more than 60% of americans explicitly reject ‘cashless society’

For many Chinese, paying by scanning QR codes without cash is already a part of daily life. Many China cities without NFC CARDS will even be labeled as outdated.

But according to a recent survey by American consumer research platform Civic Science, more than 60% of Americans clearly oppose a “cashless society”.




Why are Americans so opposed to mobile payment technologies that symbolize technology and “progress”?

The main reason for the slow development of mobile payment in the United States is still the sound credit card system.

Sarah Feldman, a columnist at Statista, recently wrote that a cashless society, while nice, has created a broad consensus about the injustices that underlie poverty.

Of the 4,493 respondents, a whopping 67% explicitly chose to oppose a cashless society, while only 23% chose “strongly support” or “approve.”

More than 80% of those surveyed said a “cashless society” was inherently “unfair” to those without bank accounts.



According to the federal deposit insurance corporation, 6.5 percent of U.S. households did not even have a savings account in 2017, while 18.7 percent of U.S. households have a bank account but still need a small loan from outside the banking system to support their household.

Feldman said that for the mobile payment business, having a bank card or credit card (and the balance on the card is available for consumption) can be said to be the most basic requirement.



The issue of discrimination arising from a “cashless society” has also been taken seriously by the legislative branch, and New Jersey and Massachusetts have legislated to prohibit merchants from refusing to accept cash, while some big cities, such as New York, San Francisco and Washington, have similar initiatives or legislation.

Interestingly, when asked, “If your favorite restaurant doesn’t accept cash payments, will you still go?” , 62% of respondents said it had no impact, while only 12% and 15% said they would reduce the number of meals or refuse to eat at the restaurant.

At the same time, according to the Civic Science survey, more than half of Americans still use credit cards to settle their accounts, and only 1% of those who use mobile phones to make payments, even slightly lower than in the previous two years.