In a world of Afterpay, tap and go and online shopping, cash is - surprisingly - still king.

Many said they still carry notes and coins in their wallets, and the amount of cash in circulation has almost doubled in the past 10 years.

One person spoken to by RNZ said they carried cash they received in tips from working in a restaurant, while another said her mum often gave her cash.

But a third said it felt “flippant” to carry cash: “I don’t really like to keep it because then I tend to spend it and I’m trying to control my spending.”

Some said carrying notes and coins was essential in a natural disaster.

“I do love to have cash because I kind of feel secure,” one man told First Up.

  • Xcf456@lemmy.nz
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    5 months ago

    I don’t use a lot of cash, but I like to keep some on me cause it comes in handy every so often.

    I am switching back more and more to eftpos over my credit card though, as so many places are either not accepting credit cards and/or contactless, or adding the extra charge that irks me (yes, I do blame the banks/payment providers for that, not the businesses).

    • Dave@lemmy.nzOPM
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      5 months ago

      Yes same here. I carry cash but not much. And I use EFTPOS anywhere that has a surchage.

      Pet peve is that if my card isn’t working and I have to swipe, some machines trigger paywave when the card is at the top of the swipe place because it’s near the paywave spot.

      • Xcf456@lemmy.nz
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        5 months ago

        Oh that’s a pain, yeah there’s a bit of a mix of places where you have to confirm the surcharge on the machine and others that just have a sign and you get automatically charged for credit/contactless.

        It’s all a bit of a mess and I can see that could lead some to just go back to cash, although there’ll be other reasons I’m sure