However, a recently published report by the Reserve Bank on the payments space shows that although cash dominates in transaction volumes, debit card payments carry, on average, higher transaction values.
So, while cash may be king, debit cards are increasingly the power behind the throne.
"South Africans use cash most often as a payment method, irrespective of what they buy," said the report. "However, there is a lower average value (R208.44/transaction) for cash payments compared to the overall value of payments across all payment methods, which is R529.21/transaction," the Reserve Bank found.
The average transaction value for credit cards was R1 141.10, while the same figure for banking apps was R1 136.80. It was higher still for internet banking at R2 132.96.
Safety concerns regarding cash still dominate the reasons cited by users for opting for digital payments over cash, with 55% of survey participants saying keeping cash on their person is risky. Interesting to note, however, is that the cost of cash is in some ways just as prohibitive as the danger factor: 27% of participants reported that it was too expensive to withdraw cash, while the same proportion of those surveyed said ATMs were no longer safe places to withdraw money.
