It's no secret that the debate between cash and card has become more intense than ever recently, but it's a well-known fact. Indeed, many people wonder whether it's better to use cashless or cashless payments. The reality is that both payment methods have advantages and disadvantages. What are they? Let's try to identify them in this article.
Cash vs. Cashless: What Saves You Money?
The only thing that determines the significant difference between the two payment methods is our own mind. And while it might initially seem like both methods are equivalent (whether you spend 50 euros in cash or cashless, who cares?), that's actually not quite the case. Not only that, our mind also treats everything related to coupons separately, which are perceived very differently. This is because we've traditionally not been accustomed to calculating the combined purchasing power of cash, cashless, and coupons. We often use cash, forgetting about how much we've already spent with our credit card.
Yet it is undeniable that in the last period the use of cashless is constantly increasing everywhere. Moreover, it's convenient: there's no action or calculation to be done. The payment device does everything for us. However, while convenience is undoubtedly an advantage of cashless payments, financially speaking it's not the best solution. This is because we lose track of the money we use daily and we tend to spend more. The line between all the money we have and the money we are willing to use every day for our needs has become much thinner. By quickly losing track of the money spent, we find ourselves without it, nullifying the efforts made to save.
Precisely for this reason, even today there are so many people who prefer cash payments to make some small daily purchases. After all, it doesn't seem right to anyone to take money from the bank to buy something particularly small and even insignificant. And if at first glance this might seem completely useless and insignificant, defining a strategy that is too rigid, in reality some studies confirm that it is still a sensible way of doing things. In fact, our mind perceives physical money in a very different way from that which, instead, we have on paper.
For example, a research study conducted in the US showed that using a credit card rather than cash made people more likely to make impulsive, hasty, and irrational purchases. It's no coincidence that using a credit card was the most common way to purchase unhealthy foods, such as sweets.
Of course, paying by credit card is "normal" if the amount is particularly large. This is because you don't always have the necessary amount of money on hand. At that point, you simply don't have enough cash and have to rely on your card.
There is even another factor that must be kept in mind: the conclusion of the purchaseIndeed, when we hold the money in our fist, we feel hesitant and uncertain. We don't know whether to spend it or not. With a card, all these doubts disappear: we don't see the money. As if all this weren't enough, when we pay with a card, we quickly forget we've done it and we also forget the amount we paid. Added to all this is the fact that with a card, we are willing to spend more for the same product that we had previously paid less for in cash.
The reason why people want to completely switch from cash to cashless, however, is another: a greater transparencyPurchases made with cash, in fact, can be subject to a lack of transparency and control. This, obviously, is something management agencies don't like at all, considering that large amounts of money can be hidden with cash. With credit card payments, this problem is eliminated for a simple reason: all transactions are recorded. All cash flows can be easily monitored, and there are no loopholes or misunderstandings.
The best solution? Obviously using a combination of cash + card, at least while it is still allowed. For small purchases it is better to use cash. For large ones, however, a credit card is preferable.
