As credit and debit cards—and their digital doppelgangers—continue to find favor among consumers, the use of cash over the past 10 years has slipped from 44% of in-store spend to 15% in 2024, finds the latest Worldpay Global Payments Report.
Released Tuesday, the report, now in its 10th year, says the decline of cash has plateaued in many markets. But cash use is expected to decline globally at a rate of 2% compounded annually through 2030.
Cash use in North America—Canada and the United States—stood at 20% in 2024, but remains high in other markets, such as the Middle East and Africa where 82% of transactions are made with cash.
Still, the digital transformation of payments in the past 10 years has been relentless. Digital payments, which Worldpay defines as digital wallets, account-to-account payments, buy now, pay later methods, and cryptocurrency, increased from 3% of global in-person shopping value in 2014 to 38% last year.