Morocco Tops Global Cash Payment Reliance List for 2022 followed by Egypt

A recent study by British website Merchant Machine has revealed that Morocco leads the world’s top 20 countries reliant on cash payments in 2022, with 74% of transactions in the North African country being cash-based.

The report highlights that 71% of Morocco’s population does not own a bank account and only 0.2% have a credit card, indicating a strong reliance on physical cash for transactions. Interestingly, this preference for cash is not attributed to internet accessibility issues, as 84% of Moroccans have internet access.

Egypt follows Morocco in second place, with 67% of its population unbanked and 60% of transactions being cash-based. Kenya and Nigeria are third and fourth, respectively. In Kenya, 40% of payments are cash-based, with 44% of the population unbanked. Nigeria, despite having only 23% of cash-based transactions, has 61% of its population without bank accounts.

On the other end of the spectrum, Norway is leading the move towards a cashless society in Europe. The country boasts a 0% unbanked population and only 2% of transactions are made with cash. Finland and New Zealand follow closely, both with minimal unbanked populations and low cash transaction rates of 2%.

The report also notes the increasing influence of digital wallets on reducing cash usage. The most popular digital wallets in 2022 are Alipay (1.3 billion users), WeChat Pay (900 million users), Apple Pay (507 million users), Google Pay (421 million users), and PayPal (377 million users).

SOURCE: Agencies