Australians 'prefer cards to cash'

Australian consumers are abandoning hard cash in favour of the convenience and improved security of "contactless payments" using debit and credit cards, a new survey has found.

The study by MasterCard Worldwide found that 80 per cent of Australians use less cash than they did five years ago, while 88 per cent saying they do not like carrying large wads of notes around in their wallet.

Indeed, some 60 per cent of Australians said they carry less than $50 around with them, the Business Spectator reports.

The country's declining use of cash put it behind South Korea and New Zealand, where 87 per cent and 82 per cent of people said their use of cash has fallen since 2003.

The survey also found that Australian consumers are among the most adaptable in the world when it comes to adopting new payment systems and technology, with 60 per cent saying they would use a contactless payment card.

In addition, the report said, the top reasons for using contactless payments were the ability to earn rewards and the speed of the transaction.

Overall, consumers ranked convenience, additional security and not have to carry money around as the most important benefits of using card transactions.

According to the Australian Federal Police, there are 12 million credit cards on issue in Australia.

MasterCard Worldwide was founded in 1966. Today its products are accepted at 25 million locations worldwide and it works in 210 different countries.

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