An increasing proportion of our financial transactions are conducted without having to use cash. But cash remains important.

What percentage of adult Americans who have a least one bank account use their account(s) to get cash and change? According to the results of the Center’s Study of the Future of Money and Banking, overall, 70% say that they do.

How do gender, age, race/ethnicity, income, and education affect this behavior?

Percentages are fairly consistent across different demographic categories.

Gender

Seventy-one percentage of men and 69% of women do.

Age

In regard to age, the lowest rate (63%) is found among those aged 55 to 64, and the highest (76%) for those aged 25 to 34.

Race/ethnicity

The rates for whites (69%), blacks (73%), and Latinos (74%) are similar.

Income

Sixty-nine percent of respondents who have a yearly household income of less than $75,000 say they use their savings account(s) in this way, compared to 72% of those with a household income of $75,000 or more.

Education

Sixty-five percent of those with some college education or less report using their savings account(s) for cash or change, as do 75% of those with a college degree or more.

We may have a cashless economy in the future, but, with such consistently high percentages of people using their banks for cash and change, this possible development seems a distant prospect.

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April 29, 2019