What’s the Future for Cash?

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The Future Without Cash: Is an Expiration Date Looming?

Does cash have an expiration date? A bill doesn’t suddenly lose its value on a set day. Yet the idea of physical currency phasing out is often compared to imposing negative interest rates. Evidence that cash is gradually losing ground continues to build, though it’s far too soon to write its obituary.

Target’s checkout outages over the weekend served as a timely reminder: point-of-sale systems can fail, and nothing beats cash when technology falters. Many of us still keep a modest stash on hand for exactly those moments, even as friends settle debts instantly via Venmo, PayPal, or Zelle.

Declining Reliance on Physical Money

Americans are becoming less dependent on cash. In 2026, 29% of U.S. adults reported making no cash purchases in a typical week, up from 24% in 2026, according to a Pew study. At the same time, 68% of smartphone owners surveyed by SurveyMonkey Audience for USA TODAY said they believe phones will eventually replace wallets entirely. Nearly half (45%) expect wallets to become obsolete within five years or less.

Facebook’s Cryptocurrency Ambitions

Interest in alternatives to cash is also growing. Facebook’s Libra digital currency, announced with more than two dozen partners including eBay, Uber, Lyft, PayPal, Spotify, Coinbase, Mastercard, and Visa, aims to create a global payment system pegged to traditional assets. Despite lingering questions around Bitcoin, blockchain, and Facebook’s privacy track record, the company is launching Calibra, a crypto wallet subsidiary set to debut on Messenger.

How Much Cash Should You Keep for Emergencies?

The Target incidents underscored why cash still matters. Some shoppers could pay with cash or checks but not cards; earlier outages blocked both. “I think the Target episode is a blip everyone will quickly forget,” says Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com. “But it reminds us to keep some cash for situations like power outages after a hurricane.”

McBride, a frequent business traveler, carries enough for a taxi to the airport. Others polled by USA TODAY typically keep $20–$50 on hand, sometimes less. “The big picture is you don’t want too much cash in your pocket or under the mattress because of theft risk,” McBride notes. “Plastic offers protections cash doesn’t.”

Mastercard senior vice president Seth Eisen agrees cash will retain a role “for the foreseeable future in certain cultures and for certain purchases.” Yet he emphasizes that electronic payments deliver greater security, transparency, and certainty while advancing financial inclusion.

Cash remains dominant for the smallest transactions. In 2026, 45% of rewards cardholders surveyed by CreditCards.com used cash for purchases under $10, compared with 30% using debit cards and 23% using credit cards. The median amount at which rewards cardholders preferred credit was $25.

“I’m tempted to quote Mark Twain,” McBride says. “The death of cash has been greatly exaggerated. It’s in decline and will keep declining, but when it disappears entirely is hard to predict.”

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