Cash vs Plastic around the world

 One thing that I always try to research before traveling to a new country is if I'll be able to use debit/credit cards without any issue. The use of cards in the country determine how much foreign currency I'll take out before traveling abroad. I also find myself observing others while I'm abroad, seeing what the locals use; if everyone is using cards I find myself pulling out my own card before using cash.


I prefer to take out cash before leaving the country, mainly because it's free and Chase bank has always been able to get me whatever currency I need within 2-3 days. On rare occasions I've used ATMs
within the country, but I've found that the fee for using an American card really adds up. I've also had my fair share of card troubles while abroad. For example, ATMs in Turkey will suck your card into the machine if you leave it in for too long, and you'll get weird looks in Russia if you even move towards your credit card, because no one trusts using plastic in their country.
Below is my ranking, which doesn't have much of a system to it, but it's my interpretation of the best and worst countries for cash vs cards.

By far the two countries with the least amount of cash use are Iceland and Sweden. They both are consistently ranked for all transactions being 90% or higher in plastic. While in both countries I didn't touch a single bill, instead I paid for everything from car tolls to meals with a credit/debit card. I traveled to both countries with extreme confidence that I would survive with just my cards and wouldn't need to track down an ATM along the way.


Australia has a currency that is both water proof and rip proof, which made me want to take out some bills before venturing down under, just to see what they looked like. If it hadn't been for my curiosity I probably wouldn't have needed to take out any cash, because I used my card for almost every purchase including ferry tickets and souvenir shopping.

Next I found that Switzerland and Liechtenstein almost always have an option to pay with a card, however, the locals seem to use more cash than plastic. The smallest bill in the Swiss Franc is a ten franc bill, meaning that the coins really add up, which is heavy and annoying. I usually take out a decent amount in Swiss Francs, but attempt to make larger purchases with my card.

Countries on the euro seem to have an even mix of cash vs cards. I've stumbled upon small hotels in Italy that would only accept cash, but could easily point me in the right direction of an ATM. Train stations usually have ticket machines that accept cards, but when in the European Union I usually carry a decent amount of euros so I'm not stuck in an awkward situation.

Balkan countries have given me mixed opinions on cash vs cards. I found in Croatia that most restaurants were completely fine with using cards, but I realized that locals around me were usually paying with cash. The problem came when it was time to buy bus tickets. Even when paying for a ride half way across the country they would still only accept cash, which completely drained my wallet. Afterwards I went to the post office to mail some postcards and found they wouldn't accept my card there either, so I had to hit up an ATM before mailing anything.  I tried to keep at least the currency equivalent of $50 USD on me while wandering around Croatia. Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro showed similar results as Croatia; restaurants were fine with cards but smaller tourist shops and bus stops would only accept cash.

Lowest on the list of cash friendly countries are Thailand, Turkey and Russia. As I stated above, Russia isn't considered a safe place to use cards, because systems are easily hacked, leaving your bank account at risk. I don't know anything on the security of cards in Turkey, but I found that almost everywhere I looked people were using cash instead of cards. However, I haven't been to Turkey in 5 years, so this might not be accurate anymore. Thailand, and many other Asian countries (Laos, Vietnam, and Malaysia) don't seem to be up to date on the technology that allows credit cards. In Thailand the only place I used my card during my six months there was at Tesco, which is a large department and grocery store. In many Asian countries, larger and more expensive restaurants often accept cards, but even so I still try to carry around enough cash just incase.

I prefer to be over prepared when traveling, and I also enjoy seeing new currencies, so when in doubt I take out at least a small amount of foreign currency before leaving the country. However, in this day and age the use of cards is becoming more widespread and it seems that cash flow is slowing down, especially in Europe.