About Cashlessy
Cashlessy is an independent guide to one practical travel question: will my card work, and how much cash do I need? It publishes The Cashlessy Index 2026, which ranks all 197 countries and territories by how easily a visitor can get by without cash.
Why it exists
Most "cashless countries" lists measure how residents pay. Travellers have a different problem: a country can be almost cashless for locals while foreign cards are blocked, ATMs charge visitors a fee, or every shop wants a local app that needs a local bank account. Cashlessy answers the visitor's version of the question, country by country.
How each country is checked
80 of the 197 country guides have been checked against sources so far, using 485 source links. Every checked guide lists its sources at the bottom and shows the month it was last checked. Guides we have not checked yet say so plainly, and we are working through the rest.
- Primary sources first: bank fee pages, central bank payment surveys, transport operators, payment app operators and official government travel advice.
- Traveller reports only when they agree: a fact that rests on blogs or forums needs two independent, recent reports, and the guide says "reported".
- No guessing: if we cannot confirm something, it stays out of the guide.
- Regular rechecks: fees, sanctions and payment apps change fast, so checked guides are rechecked at least every six months, and sooner when news breaks.
The scoring itself is explained in full on the methodology page.
Independence
Cashlessy carries no advertising and no affiliate links, and no bank, card company or payment app pays to be included or to change a score. The 2026 data is free to reuse with credit; see the press page.
Corrections and contact
Spotted a fee that has changed, an ATM that no longer takes foreign cards, or an app that stopped working for visitors? Email press@cashlessy.com with the country and, if you have one, a link. We check every report against a source before changing a guide.