Travelling? It's safer to carry plastic money

Business and leisure travellers find it safer to carry plastic money compared with thick wads of notes while on a trip, a survey done by global credit card firm Visa said.

"Forty-five per cent of those surveyed said they relied primarily on payment cards. But, of the 55 per cent who said they relied on cash as their primary method of payment while abroad, only four per cent actually thought cash was safe to carry," Visas Travel Smart survey said.

"Payment cards are certainly a safer option in many seasoned travellers' minds as they are not carrying thick wads of notes in their wallet or purse," Visa's South Asia country manager Uttam Nayak said.

The survey found that business travellers travel smart by relying less on cash and instead use a credit, debit or prepaid card.

"Business travellers are more likely to use electronic payment cards (59 per cent) over cash (41 per cent) as the primary payment method while overseas leisure travellers are more inclined to use cash (58 per cent) than cards (41 per cent)," Visa said.

Sixty-eight per cent business travellers consider automated teller machines for cash withdrawal compared with 63 per cent of leisure travellers, it said.

The most frequent places where people obtained cash were at ATMs and money changers at the airport and within cities on arrival, the survey said.

"Using cards to obtain cash on arrival and to settle payment overseas certainly cuts down the risk involved in carrying too much cash," Nayak said, adding the number of Visa ATM access locations has grown to more than 1.4 million globally in recent years.

Visa said younger travellers are more likely to pay electronically while overseas than older ones. Older respondents above 40 years of age are more likely to carry larger sums of cash than those between 18-39 years of age.

"Survey respondents said they withdrew an average amount of $1,120 in cash before heading overseas. Respondents from New Zealand withdraw the most cash for their trip ($1,516), followed by Australians ($1,441) and Indians ($ 1,431)," Visa said.