The coronavirus panic has opened a new front in the turf war that is cash versus cards for day-to-day purchases: Mastercard has asserted customers are deserting "dirty" cash for tap-and-go deals, while ATM firm Next Payments has hit back with a string of counter arguments.
A worldwide Mastercard survey that included 1000 Australian shoppers – run about a month ago – decided that "a shift in consumer behaviour during COVID-19 has led 44 per cent of Aussies to decrease their use of cash when making purchases in-person".
Findings from the local Australian consumer research indicated that 88 per cent of contactless payment users were transacting with their debit or credit cards, while 25 per cent were also using their mobile phones.
The card major also asserted that 45 per cent of Aussie shoppers increased their use of contactless payments in the months of the COVID-19 pandemic, although on Mastercard's own results, just one in five (21 per cent) people cited the "cleanliness factor" as a reason they decided not to use cash at all.
Some of the other points made by Mastercard were:
• During the COVID-19 pandemic, 94 per cent of Australians have made purchases at their grocery store using contactless payments; 70 per cent at their pharmacy; and 56 per cent at a retailer. (Whether these rates differ from pre-COVID19 days was not revealed)
• Eight in ten (79 per cent) of Aussies "agree contactless payments are a cleaner way to pay", and half (52 per cent) of the respondents said they were more aware of the "dirtiness" of cash as a result of COVID-19. (The survey questions were not revealed.)
The dirtiness of money was disputed by Tim Wildash, chief executive of ATM supplier Next Payments.
"There is no connection between cash and the spread of COVID-19," Wildash said, citing reports by the World Health Organisation, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and The Royal Australian Mint, which suggested that plastic cards are more likely to carry viruses than banknotes.
"ATM cash is sanitised with ultra-violet light, disinfectant sprays and stored for 24 – 48 hours to ensure it is free of contamination," Wildash said.
He said Next Payments' own survey-based consumer sentiments research, also conducted one month ago, showed consumers "remained supportive of cash", while 77 per cent of respondents said they "consider it unfair that some businesses do not accept cash" – although not all were prepared to act. Just 37 per cent of the survey's respondents said they avoid businesses that do not accept cash.
And in a deeper swipe at the major card players, Wildash raised the question of fees paid to card providers and banks.
"There are no hidden fees or surcharges at point of purchase with cash," Wildash said.
"Cash is safe, flexible, private and does not have regular 'outages' like bank EFTPOS systems."