By Bruce Kennedy, MoneyWatch

Have we really, truly turned into a cashless society?

There have been loads of predictions over the years that coin-and-paper currency may soon become museum pieces. And studies agree more and more that financial transactions now involve debit and credit cards — as well as other electronic forms of money transference, such as bank-to-bank transfers or online payment services such as Paypal, which is owned by eBay.

In fact, according to a survey of more than 2,300 adult U.S. citizens by U.K.-based Vouchercloud.net, 57 percent of the Americans polled said they “never” carry cash — compared to the 17 percent who sometimes carry it, and the ten percent who say they “always” have cash on them.

Even Uncle Sam appears to be in agreement that plastic is trumping paper as the American consumer’s preferred method of moving money around.

The 2013 Federal Reserve Payments Study, issued late last year, reported payments have become increasingly card-based — with the number of debit card payments rising more than any other payment system between 2009 and 2012.

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