Cash transactions remains a popular choice of payment for many consumers.
More South Africans still prefer to carry cash in their wallets despite access to other methods of transacting.
A study released by Mastercard at the WEF on Africa 2017, says consumers used R23BN in 2015 for cash payments.
This is despite an increase in the number of those who have bank accounts.
77% of the population currently have bank accounts compared to 63% in 2011.
Mastercard says the benefit of using cash is largely driven by the misconception that cash is cheap- and they do not consider the indirect costs such as cash in and cash out points.
46% of low income earners who are banked tend to use cash because of very limited card acceptance at merchant points especially in rural and peri urban areas.
Graphic by Mastrcard
– By Amina Accram
