Card payments: the habit that can increase your spending

Paying by card is a habit that can have consequences for your spending.

For many shoppers, it has become an entirely routine gesture. At the supermarket checkout, plenty of people reach for their bank card to pay. Yet this seemingly harmless ritual may not be without an impact. Several studies have identified an unexpected effect linked to this behaviour.

Card payments can increase spending

Simply paying by bank card appears to encourage people to spend more than they would when using cash. In a study published in the Journal of Retailing in 2024, Australian researchers examined 71 studies conducted across 17 countries, involving 11,000 participants.

A “small” but “significant” cashless effect

Their findings confirm a “cashless effect”: digital payments are associated with higher spending than cash transactions. The study’s authors describe this effect as “small” but “significant”.

Why might this happen? Quoted by L’Internaute, which reported on the BBC coverage, Richard Whittle, an economist at Salford Business School, said: “The ease of paying by card can lead consumers to spend without thinking and buy things they do not really need”.

Why cash can feel more restrictive

Stuart Mills, a lecturer in economics at the University of Leeds, makes a similar point, adding: “Cash provides immediate and visible feedback on what we spend”. It is precisely the uncomfortable feeling of handing over cash that can prevent some customers from completing a purchase.

The scientists now hope that their findings will become widely known. Whether among academics, consumers, professionals or even policymakers, the influence of cashless payments on spending is something everyone should consider.