How do Canadians perceive access to cash?

This paper introduces a subjective measure of cash accessibility in Canada, complementing existing distance-based metrics developed by Chen, O’Habib and Xiao (2023). Analyzing data from the 2023 Methods-of-Payment Survey, this study explores how Canadians perceive their ease of accessing cash from automated banking machines (ABMs) and financial institution branches. The results reveal strong alignment between subjective perceptions and distance-based metrics, with most Canadians reporting easy access to cash sources. Those who reported lower perceived cash accessibility need to travel longer distances and tend to be young, university-educated, low-income, unemployed or cashless.