Tips, Taxi Fare: When Do UAE Residents Mostly Use Cash?

The study added that many consumers still rely on cash for smaller, routine expenses like taxis, public transport and markets.

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The second edition of the Visa research, named 'Where cash hides', revealed that 24 per cent of UAE consumers use cash in their everyday spending due to speed and 23 per cent do so because of acceptance, while 23 per cent use peer-to-peer (P2P) cash due to habit and 20 per cent for acceptance.

The study noted that P2P transactions dropped by 10 per cent to 33 per cent and everyday cash spending fell two per cent to 25 per cent last year compared to 2023.

As more and more people opt for card payments, cash payments for tips dropped 4 per cent to 51 per cent and cash for money exchanges between friends and family fell to 39 per cent in 2024 from 50 per cent in 2023.

International transfers through exchange houses dropped to 27 per cent versus 40 per cent and paying rent in cash from 25 per cent to 16 per cent, indicating progress in digitising payments in those categories.

Salima Gutieva, vice-president and country manager for UAE at Visa, said that the findings revealed that while digital payments are growing, cash still plays a role in specific scenarios like tipping, exchanging money with family and friends for immediate settlement, shopping at farmers' markets, or paying for taxis.

“Despite cash usage in these areas, our 2024 findings reveal that overall reliance on cash remains low. For 61 per cent of respondents, only 1-2 out of their last 10 transactions were in cash, and just 3 per cent of respondents reported using cash for their last 10 transactions,” she told Khaleej Times in an interview on Monday.

Salima Gutieva

In the public sector, Dubai's Cashless Strategy is targeting 90 per cent of digital transactions by 2026 to empower local businesses in enhancing payment experiences for everyone.

Gutieva said that cash won't disappear overnight, but many factors at play are steadily reducing dependence on it.

“These include a highly digital-savvy population in the UAE, the government's robust cashless agenda, and continuous innovations from financial institutions, fintechs, and players like Visa,” she said.