New research from Money.com.au has revealed that 84% of older Australians won’t give up their physical debit or credit cards, despite the growing popularity of mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Among them, the research found that 62% prefer to use a physical card at checkouts, while 22% would consider using a mobile wallet for payments, but still want to keep a card on hand just in case.
By comparison, only 10% of older Australians use a mobile wallet for all their purchases. A smaller portion of older Aussies (7%) still prefer to use cash to pay for goods and services.
Money.com.au’s Finance Expert, Sean Callery says older generations are more comfortable and familiar with using physical cards.
“Older Australians are four times more likely to use a physical card at checkout than those under 25, and they’re the least likely of any generation to go fully digital,” he says.
“They tend to stick with what they know, and that’s physical cards. They know how to use them, and they know what to do if one gets lost or stolen. But with mobile wallets, there’s still a sense of uncertainty around things like fraud, data breaches, and who to turn to if
something goes wrong.”
While Baby Boomers are leading the charge when it comes to holding on to physical cards, Gen X isn’t far behind, with 75% saying they won’t give up their debit or credit cards, despite mobile wallets becoming more widespread.
Among younger generations, 66% of Millennials and 55% of Gen Z also say they’re not ready to go fully digital and still want to hold on to their physical cards.
According to RBA retail payments data, Australians have made 2.59 billion mobile wallet transactions so far in 2025, worth a total $110.06 billion. Mobile wallet use now accounts for around 45% of all card transactions in Australia — up from 39% in 2024.
Based on current growth trends, mobile wallets could account for all retail card payments by 2032 at the earliest, according to Money.com.au analysis.
