The use of credit and debit cards to pay for retail transactions accounts for about 30 percent each. Cash payments make up for about 29 percent in the U.S. and is in decline for last ten years when it accounted for more than 36 percent of retail transactions. Visa and Master Card, world’s largest credit and debit card processing companies issue both cards. Just within the last quarter, Visa processed more than $271 billion debit card purchases and Master Card debit processing jumped more than 13 percent to $110 billion within the same quarter. Debit card purchases are expected to rise to about 35 percent of all U.S. retail sales by 2020 and credit card purchases will stay flat around 30 percent within the same period.
Cash payments for purchases are in the decline in the U.S. and expected to account for about 25 percent of all U.S. retail purchases. In 2002, cash transactions accounted for more than 35 percent. Most Americans without a bank account still use cash and those who earn more than $60,000 a year rarely use cash for payments accounting only for about two percent of all retail transactions.