A 71-study review finds card payments push shoppers to spend more

Swiping feels painless; the receipt tells a different story. A review of 71 studies spanning 11,000 shoppers in 17 countries, published in 2024 in Le Journal of Retailing, links card and other cashless payments to modestly higher spending than cash. Salford economist Richard Whittle and Leeds lecturer Stuart Mills point to the missing friction of cash as a quiet nudge toward impulse buys. The finding matters beyond consumers, offering cues for researchers and policymakers weighing how payment design shapes behavior.

The rise of cashless payments

We tap, swipe, and walk out. That split-second ritual has become the default at grocery stores, pharmacies, and gas stations across the U.S., led by Visa, Mastercard, and contactless wallets. Credit cards promise speed, rewards, and fraud protection. Yet, researchers say the convenience can carry a quiet cost: it may nudge us to spend more than we would with bills in hand.

What the research reveals

A 2024 meta-analysis published in The Journal of Retailing reviewed 71 studies across 17 countries, covering 11,000 participants. The authors identified a “cashless effect”: people tend to spend more when paying with cards than with cash. The impact is small but consistent across contexts, suggesting a reliable behavioral pattern that surfaces in everyday transactions.

Why plastic leads to higher spending

Economist Richard Whittle of Salford Business School noted that the ease and speed of credit cards can fuel snap decisions. There is less psychological friction at checkout, so items that might have stayed on the shelf end up in the basket. Stuart Mills, a lecturer at the University of Leeds, added that cash creates immediate, visible loss, giving shoppers a natural checkpoint before committing.

What this means for consumers and beyond

For American shoppers, the takeaway is practical. If you tend to overshoot budgets, try reserving cash for categories prone to impulse buys, then use cards for recurring bills where totals are predictable. Retailers benefit from faster lines and fewer abandoned purchases, while banks and fintechs lean on rewards to keep card usage high, especially during peak seasons.

The study’s authors point to a wider audience too: academics mapping consumer behavior, financial coaches designing nudges, and policymakers weighing cash access as stores go card-first. The question is not whether to ditch cards. It is whether we can build guardrails, like real-time spend alerts or weekly limits, that recreate the helpful friction cash once provided in the checkout line.