Who carries cash anymore? Just about everybody, it turns out.
When consumers begin to use debit cards for most of their routine purchases, they tend to carry less cash, but they tend to visit ATMs more often for small cash withdrawals, MasterCard Advisors notes in a new white paper.
And while debit card use has become deeply entrenched in many developed global markets, the sudden introduction of adverse factors such as inconvenience at the point of sale or fear of fraud can turn consumers away from using debit cards relatively quickly, MasterCard Advisors notes in the report.
In the report “Creating A Debit Card Payment Habit,” which MasterCard Advisors released Feb. 7, the firm discusses a study it conducted in which it reviewed transaction data from local merchants and interviewed groups of consumers in a mature, undisclosed debit market in Western Europe.
The research took place over 24 months through mid-2011, the firm says. Specific transaction and demographic figures from the study were not available.
