Future of Digital Finance  ·  Report 02

Out of Sight,
Out of Mind

What US payment preferences reveal about the future of finance.

"The best payment experience, half of consumers say, is no experience at all."

Download the full report
Free PDF · No obligation
Executive Summary

The best payment experience, half of consumers say, is no experience at all.

They don't want to carry cash, count change, or have to remember to pay. They want payments to happen silently, seamlessly, in the background, without being asked to think about them.

This second report in the Future of Digital Finance series draws on a nationally representative survey of 1,004 U.S. consumers and 253 U.S. businesses to examine the behaviors and preferences driving this shift. The data tells a clear story:

Whether they're doing it consciously or not, US consumers are gravitating toward payment forms that require little to no active participation. They're stepping away from cash first, then cards, while embracing payment models that they don't have to think about, like subscriptions.

What the data shows
51%

of consumers are open to abandoning cash altogether

35%

are open to abandoning physical debit and credit cards

68%

love or like subscription-based payment models

78%

of businesses report cash makes up 50% or less of their transactions

Get the full report

Read the complete findings from Interledger Foundation's Future of Digital Finance series, including full survey data and analysis.

Download the PDF