Cash, not cards, remains the most widely used payment instrument in Australia for low-value payments, a recent Reserve Bank of Australia payments-use study reveals. Cards, however, are the dominant payment method for mid-value payments ranging from AU$50 (US$52 or 36 euros) and AU$500.
Moreover, the use of credit cards grows relative to debit cards as the transaction value increases, according to Malcom Edey, the central bank’s assistant governor of financial systems.
The findings are consistent with the popular perception of spending in Australia, where credit card use traditionally has outstripped the use of cash, Mrinalini Manral, an India-based independent banking analyst, tells PaymentsSource.
“Central bank data tells us that in February, Australians made AU$11.4 billion in ATM withdrawals, while they made over AU$18.5 billion worth of credit card purchases and AU$10.8 billion in debit card purchases,” she says.
The data imply Australians would rather use bankcards to make most purchases instead of visiting ATMs to take out cash again and again, she adds.
Roy Morgan Research, an Australia-based market research firm, conducted the study that involved 1,200 households in October and November last year. Participants kept a diary of their payments over a one-week period and were asked about their attitudes toward newer payment methods not covered in the diary, such as contactless or mobile payments, Edey says.
Only 3% reported having made a contactless payment in the previous month, and less than 10% had ever made a mobile payment, the study found.
Of the 90% of respondents who had access to the Internet, 80% reported having made an online purchase, 60% reported having done an online funds transfer, and 60% said they paid most of their bills online, according to the study report.
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