Fewer Americans carrying Cash

A new survey says 78% of Americans carry less than $50 in cash on a daily basis, 49% carry $20 or less each day and 9%, who don’t carry any cash at all. Only 7% of Americans typically carry $100 or more. Bankrate.com Senior Financial Analyst Greg McBride gives details.  “I think for a lot of people it is a matter of either the convenience of paying with credit or debit, the convenience of not having to carry cash, not being a potential target for loss or theft of that money, the fact that with credit cards you can earn reward points.” McBride breaks down the numbers by gender.  “Men tend to carry more cash than women and probably with good reason; particularly carrying cash can make you a target for theft for example.” McBride says many are carrying less cash because when you lose it, it is gone forever, while stolen credit cards have protection.  “Well, the fact is that when you are using plastic, you are not liable for any fraudulent transactions as long as you report it to your financial institution.”  McBride says people shouldn’t shy away from using their cards-even after the massive Target data breach last winter.  “It is like people that were afraid to fly after Sept. 11 and so they drove, statistics show traffic fatalities actually went up.  Same sort of thing, you are just putting yourself in a tougher position by using cash in lieu of plastic.” To read the complete report visit www.Bankrate.com.