Most people in the baby boom and echo boom generations say cash eventually will disappear, according to a
The San Francisco card association estimates that by 2015 most spending will be done by baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) and echo boomers (people born between 1979 and 1989).
Those two generations are "the powerhouses of U.S. consumer spending," and have influential spending habits, Wayne Best, Visa's chief economist, said in a press release.
In the survey, 79% of baby boomers predicted an eventual cashless society, as did 74% of echo boomers. The survey did not ask the respondents to predict exactly when they believed that would happen.
Visa also asked respondents about their spending habits. Echo boomers are more financially responsible than their reputation makes them out to be, the card association said. More than 70% said they are concerned about retirement savings, and 48% said they consider themselves savers today.
Seventy-eight percent of baby boomers, many of whom are getting close to retirement age, said they were concerned with having enough savings to stop working.
The phone survey of 500 baby boomers and 500 echo boomers was conducted by Segmentation Co., a division of Yankelovich Inc. of Chapel Hill, N.C., between Feb. 22 and March 12.
