While credit card companies are pushing for a move to a cashless society, that situation is clearly not taking hold in many parts of the world. While there has been a rise in cashless payments, especially since the global COVID-19 pandemic, cash is still heavily relied upon the world over.
Merchant Machine, a comparison website for United Kingdom (UK) customers, recently released its 2022 findings for which countries around the world are most reliant on cash.
Methodology
To conduct the study, Merchant Machine analyzed metrics for each country including the percentage of internet users, percentage of people who have a credit card, the number of ATMs available per 100,000 people, the percentage of cash-based payments made, and the percentage of the population that was unbanked – meaning they don’t have a bank account.
Results
According to the study, the top 10 countries that most rely on cash payments are:
According to the study, “Morocco is leading the way when it comes to cash payments in 2022. 74% of all payments in Morocco are cash-based, with 71% of the population not having their own bank account and only 0.2% owning a credit card, indicating that the majority of Moroccan citizens are still relying on physical cash for their transactions.”
Egypt had 60% of cash-based payments whereas Kenya (40%), Nigeria (23%), and Philippines (24%) rounded out the top 5.
Unbanked
There does seem to be a correlation between countries that heavily rely on cash and the amount of their population that is unbanked. In Morocco, 71% of the population is unbanked, 67% in Egypt, 44% in Kenya, 61% in Nigeria, and 65% in the Philippines.
For these countries, and many more, the necessity of having access to cash as a form of payment is utterly essential in being able to access everyday goods and services.
