Despite digital payment advancements and the availability of mobile wallets in most countries, cash remains a prominent payment form — especially in Romania, where 78% of transactions are still made with cash.
Romania tops a list of top 10 cash-dependent countries across the globe, according to
As part of its research on the staying power of cash, the Merchant Machine report also predicts that cash usage in the U.K., based on its current decline, is likely to bottom out as soon as 2026.
But it won't happen as quickly in other countries in which the percentage of cash transactions is much higher than other payment forms.
As the top cash-reliant country, Romania has a population of unbanked citizens at 42% and it has nearly 65 ATMs per 100,000 adults, giving plenty of access to cash.
Egypt, Kazakhstan, Bulgaria and Ukraine round out the top five countries, all hovering between 55% and 63% of transactions being cash.
In Ukraine, 96 ATMs are available per 100,000 adults, while Bulgaria has 94 ATMs per 100,000 adults. Only Peru had a higher ATM-per-adult rate, with 127 ATMs per 100,000 adults.
By contrast, Norway registers only 3% of transactions made in cash and only 31 ATMs per 100,000 adults, and 100% of the population owns a bank account, according to Merchant Machine.
“The decline of cash usage around the world represents the increase in payment technologies and the changing attitudes for both consumers and businesses," Ian Wright, founder of Merchant Machine, said in a Wednesday press release. "However, this study shows that not all countries are ready to make the full move towards a cashless society."
Countries rounding out the top 10 relying on cash include Morocco, the Philippines, Peru, Hungary and Vietnam. Of those countries, Morocco has the highest percentage of unbanked citizens at 71%, or 25.8 million not owning a bank account.
Merchant Machine also ranked the most popular digital wallets in its research, citing the uptick in use from the COVID-19 pandemic.
"In 2013, Alipay overtook PayPal as the world's largest mobile payment platform and they have not slowed down since the digital wallet now has more than 1 billion active users," the report noted.
The breakdown of the top five digital wallets shows China's Alipay on top with just more than 1.2 billion active users, and its competitor in China, WeChat Pay, at 1.1 billion users.
Apple Pay was third, with 507 million users, followed by PayPal with 361 million and Samsung Pay at 51 million. Amazon Pay was listed at 50 million users, while Google Pay had 39 million.
