More than one in two consumers worldwide prefer using a physical payment card to using cash or a digital wallet when making in-person purchases (53%), a survey has revealed.

It also shows regional variations with a higher proportion of respondents citing physical cards as their preferred payment method for in-person transactions in Russia (78%), France (76%), Poland (76%) and Brazil (73%) than in India (40%), Indonesia (35%) and China (26%).

Similarly, a higher proportion of consumers cite mobile wallets as their preferred payment method in China (66%), Hong Kong (40%), and India (38%) than in Germany and the UK (11%), the USA, Italy, Poland and Turkey (10%), Canada (8%) and France (7%).

The proportion of respondents identifying cash as their preferred method of payment was highest in Turkey (42%), followed by Germany (41%), Indonesia (37%), Mexico (35%) and Japan (30%).

When asked about physical card form factors 72% of respondents said they would opt for a card made of eco-friendly materials and 70% for a metal card if all the benefits and rewards were equal to those of other cards on offer.

“Half of consumers surveyed (51%) took their desire for metal cards further by indicating they would leave their bank for another that offered a metal payment card, assuming the payment card benefits and rewards were equal,” the researchers say.

“Millennials (61%) and wealthy (63%) consumers have a greater inclination to leave their bank for one that offers a metal card.”

The survey was conducted with 18,000 consumers in 18 markets worldwide and was commissioned by premium payment card provider CompoSecure.

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