Every new payment app seems to arrive with the same prediction: cash is going away. The data tells a more useful story.
Digital payments are growing, but consumers continue to use cash, carry it, and expect to need it in the future. Cash is not the only way people pay. It is still an important part of the mix.
What the Federal Reserve found
The Federal Reserve’s 2025 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice studied how U.S. consumers paid during 2024. Cash accounted for 14% of consumer payments by number. Consumers made an average of seven cash payments per month, unchanged since 2020.
Cash remained the third most used payment instrument after credit and debit cards. Nearly 80% of consumers had carried cash for at least one day of the survey month, and more than 90% said they intended to use cash in the future as a payment method or store of value.
Cash is part of a digital life
People do not divide neatly into cash users and digital users. One person may tap a phone for coffee, use a card for groceries, send money through an app, and keep cash for a tip or emergency.
The Federal Reserve found that nearly two-thirds of cash payments were made by people who prefer another payment method. That makes cash a complement to digital payments, not simply an alternative used by people who reject technology.
Why people still use cash
Cash works as a backup
Phones lose power. Networks go down. Cards can be declined. Cash gives consumers another way to complete a transaction when the preferred method is unavailable.
Cash supports budgeting
Physical currency can make spending visible. Some households separate money into cash categories or use a fixed amount to manage discretionary spending.
Cash fits some everyday transactions
Tips, gifts, small purchases, person-to-person exchanges, and some local businesses still rely on cash. It can be quick and familiar when both parties are present.
Cash use varies by household
The Federal Reserve found that lower-income households and adults age 55 and older used cash more often than other groups. Access policies can have unequal effects when they assume every customer has the same payment habits and digital options.
Using cash is not the same as accessing cash
A consumer may want to use cash but live far from a branch or convenient ATM. That makes access a separate part of the payment conversation.
As branches consolidate and fixed ATM networks change, the distance between a digital balance and physical currency can grow. A person can see money in an app and still have difficulty turning it into cash nearby.
Build access for a mixed-payment economy
Financial institutions do not need to choose between digital innovation and cash access. They can build digital experiences that make physical currency easier to reach.
SPARE’s Virtual ATM model begins in the financial app. The account holder requests cash, selects a participating retailer, and completes the approved transaction at the store’s register. No standalone ATM is required at that location.
Cash is changing, not disappearing
Cash represents a smaller share of payments than it once did, but that is not the same as irrelevance. Consumers continue to use it, carry it, and value it as a backup.
The better question is not whether cash is dead. It is whether people can still access it when and where they need it.
Learn how SPARE connects digital accounts to local cash access.