The UAE, India, Malaysia and Indonesia are the countries most likely to support a completely cashless society, according to London-based finance portal moneytransfers.com.
In India, which tops the list, almost eight out of 10 people are in favor of the country’s economy becoming cashless. Out of these, more than 20 percent said they would use digital mode of payment even on small purchases like buying a pack of chewing gum.
Nearly 65 percent of those polled in Malaysia expressed confidence in a cashless economy while 63 percent of consumers surveyed in the UAE and Indonesia were open to using digital forms of money, according to the report by moneytransfers.com, which surveyed people from 21 countries that are likely to accept a fully cashless economy.
More than half of respondents in Vietnam, Singapore, Italy, the Philippines, and Thailand said they prefer to pay digitally when making a “very expensive” purchase such as buying a new electronic device.
Quicker adoption to digital payments
Globally, COVID-19 is leading to a faster adoption of digital payments and particularly contactless payments due to heightened awareness about infection spread through bank notes and plastic money.
With the “cashless movement” given a boost, more companies and customers are starting to avoid traditional cash payments, moneytransfers.com said.
It analyzed the latest data from the British data analytics firm YouGov, which interviewed 25,823 adults from 21 countries, to assess which countries in the world would prefer a cashless society.
Participating countries included Canada, India, the UK, Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden, the US, Italy, Spain, the UAE, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
Only 46 percent of the respondents from China and Hong Kong said they preferred going fully cashless.
COVID-19 pandemic has affected almost every area of our lives and the money transfer industry is no different, moneytransfers.com said. “Due to the emergence of coronavirus, cashless payments are the preferred payment option for businesses and individuals as the act of handing over banknotes could lead to an expedited spread of the virus,” it added.
Some of the advantages of a cashless society include these payments are eco-friendly, quicker, require zero human contact, boost users’ credit score and they would be cheaper to run for many countries, the report found.
More than half of respondents in the top six countries reveal they have used less cash since the pandemic outbreak. Although India was the most receptive to becoming cashless, only 47 percent of respondents have used cash less often since the coronavirus outbreak.
