--- title: Half of Americans Under 25 Think Paying With Cash Is 'Awkward' description: According to a new survey, a large percentage of consumers (young people in particular) say they feel awkward paying with cash. authors: - name: Pete Grieve role: Lead News Reporter url: https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/ bio: Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter at Money who frequently writes about news and trends related to car buying, auto insurance and gas prices. education: University of Chicago, BA Political Science at_money_since: 2022 articles: 601 covers: - Personal Finance - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://twitter.com/pete_grieve - https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138 - https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4 editors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Personal Finance - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2024-07-26T20:00:01.000Z' modified: '2024-07-26T20:07:03.000Z' section: Personal Finance tags: - News word_count: 489 canonical: https://money.com/paying-with-cash-awkward-survey/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Photo collage of a hand holding a wallet with multiple dollar bills](https://img.money.com/2024/07/News-Americans-Dont-Use-Cash.jpg) Cash is… cringe? As tapping to pay becomes the norm in America, a surprising number of people now say it’s “awkward” to pay with physical cash. Despite physical currency having been the cornerstone of everyday financial transactions for centuries, 28% of people “now feel awkward when paying with cash, a sentiment that is particularly strong among consumers 18-34 years old," according to Marqeta, a card issuing company. A new survey [released](https://investors.marqeta.com/news-releases/news-release-details/new-marqeta-research-americans-are-happy-swap-physical-wallets) Tuesday found that older Americans are more comfortable with cash, but the feeling that it's awkward isn’t just a Gen Z thing. ## Get more from your Checking Account with cashback rewards from Discover® ### A cashback-enabled checking account not only provides the convenience of managing your finances seamlessly but also rewards you with cash incentives for everyday transactions, putting money back in your pocket. Click on your state to learn more. [See Details](https://money.com/pr/y52cd0cece7f?ap_referrer=%2Fpaying-with-cash-awkward-survey%2F) Asked if they’ve ever experienced feelings of awkwardness while paying with cash: - 49% of ages 18-25 years old said “Yes” - 38% of ages 26-34 years old said “Yes” - 26% of ages 35-50 years old said “Yes” - 16% of ages 51-65 years old said “Yes” ## Is it awkward to pay with cash? The question of whether paying with cash is uncomfortable may be up for debate, but there are some more practical pros and cons to consider. For one thing, paying with cash can help you stick to a budget. Research shows that, for psychological reasons, you [might spend less](https://money.com/dollar-scholar-cash-only/) if you’re actually seeing the money leave your hand. But the opposite is also possible. Once you’ve taken money out of an ATM, it’s tempting for some people to indulge in frivolous spending. Other benefits? Cash is accepted in almost all brick-and-mortar stores. If you don’t need change or a receipt, it’s potentially the quickest payment method, and workers [prefer cash](https://money.com/cash-or-credit-card-tip-restaurants/) at some establishments that accept tips. But for most of us, the drawbacks and inconveniences mean we’d rather tap or swipe at checkout: Cash can be bulky to carry; waiting for change is slow; there’s the chance of loss or theft; you miss out on [credit card rewards](https://money.com/best-credit-cards/); and you don’t get an automatic digital record of your payments. ## The U.S. lags other countries in contactless payments Marqeta's survey also found that the U.S. is pretty far behind other countries in contactless payments. In many parts of the world, you can tap almost anywhere — and people take advantage. In the United Kingdom, 80% of respondents said they've made a contactless payment in the last week, versus 46% in the U.S. The country could catch up in the coming years as merchant acceptance of contactless payment is projected to increase. There's clearly a large group of people who want to pay with their phones, and 53% of Americans already "feel confident enough to leave their physical wallets at home, a figure that rises to 67% among 18-25 year olds," Marqeta said in the report. And in just the past year, nearly a third of surveyed consumers say they have decreased their cash usage. ## Enjoy the convenience of banking while earning 1% cash-back on your regular purchases ### Experience the dual advantage of effortless money management and financial perks with a checking account offering cashback from Discover®. Click below to learn more. [See Details](https://money.com/pr/n6bf5e6e0627?ap_referrer=%2Fpaying-with-cash-awkward-survey%2F) ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/19978/medium_09303199-0eb1-4bc1-81f4-bba87bf39bd2.png) Open a SoFi® Checking and Savings account today [See Details](https://money.com/pr/e2eb41300f54?ap_referrer=%2Fpaying-with-cash-awkward-survey%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/paying-with-cash-awkward-survey/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Personal Finance", "item": "https://money.com/personal-finance/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "News", "item": "https://money.com/tag/news/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Half of Americans Under 25 Think Paying With Cash Is 'Awkward'" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/paying-with-cash-awkward-survey/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/paying-with-cash-awkward-survey/", "name": "Half of Americans Under 25 Think Paying With Cash Is 'Awkward'", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2024-07-26T20:00:01.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/paying-with-cash-awkward-survey/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/paying-with-cash-awkward-survey/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-07-26T20:07:03.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Half of Americans Under 25 Think Paying With Cash Is 'Awkward'", "articleSection": "Personal Finance", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2024/07/News-Americans-Dont-Use-Cash.jpg", "width": 2620, "height": 1747, "caption": "News-Americans-Dont-Use-Cash" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pete Grieve", "url": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/#author", "description": "Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter at Money who frequently writes about news and trends related to car buying, auto insurance and gas prices.", "image": "https://img.money.com/2023/02/peter.png?w=350&h=430&crop=1", "email": "peter.grieve@money.com", "jobTitle": "Lead News Reporter", "alumniOf": "University of Chicago, BA Political Science", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/pete_grieve", "https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138", "https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4" ], "worksFor": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2024-07-26T20:00:01.000Z", "description": "According to a new survey, a large percentage of consumers (young people in particular) say they feel awkward paying with cash.", "abstract": "According to a new survey, a large percentage of consumers (young people in particular) say they feel awkward paying with cash.", "@id": "https://money.com/paying-with-cash-awkward-survey/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-07-26T20:07:03.000Z", "editor": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brad Tuttle", "url": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/#author", "description": "Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals.\r\n\r\n", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/01/Brad-Tuttle.png?w=226&h=247&crop=1", "alumniOf": "Columbia University School of Journalism, MS", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle", "https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225" ] } ], "wordCount": 489, "keywords": [ "News" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Personal finance", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_finance" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cash", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cash" ] } ] } ] } ```