Cash is still king for most black consumers

By Frederick H. Lowe
Contributing Writer

(BlackmansStreet.Today) — Cash is king. Well, er, let me modify that statement.

It is still king with African-Americans, but other racial and ethnic groups are pulling out their debit and credit cards to pay for purchases, according to a Pew Research Center study.

“Roughly three-in-ten adults, or 29 percent, claim they don’t make any purchases with cash during the week. This is up from 24 percent in 2015, “ Pew reported.

Blacks are more likely than whites or Hispanics to rely on cash: 34 percent use cash for all or almost all of their purchases, compared with 15 percent of whites and 17 percent of Hispanics, Pew reports.

Income determines who does and does not pay with cash. Adults earning $75,000 or more a year are twice as likely to pay for purchases with a card or another payment method. Adults who earn less than $30,000 a year are more likely to reach in their wallet and pull out greenbacks.

This article originally published in the January 7, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.