In the post-COVID era here in the UK, there has been a marked change in customer habits with regards to the use of cash. The rapid switch to electronic 'tap and go' EFTPOS options globally has changed our spending habits forever.
So how did I find it on my recent multi-country trip.
USA - 'tap and go' all the time, no need for cash
New Zealand - I was in New Zealand for six weeks before I actually used the $20 note that I have in my wallet from day one of my journey. I only needed it to pay for a local bus service for NZ$1.20. Apart from that, everywhere I went it was very easy to 'tap and go' or to use a card reader to pay for items. Literally more or less everyone on the North Island has that facility.
Australia - same as NZ not surprisingly I never actually needed to use any cash in my 7 day stay there.
Singapore - though this may surprise you but although 'tap and go' was prevalent everywhere in Singapore, if you entered Chinatown, that's where you definitely needed cash. To take advantage of the street food options and to enjoy the products for sale in this sector you needed cash as everything was cash only! (and Google translate to understand what you were buying!)
My recommendation:
Forget the bundles of cash or travellers cheques in my opinion, I personally use a multi-currency travel card and that has worked for me in the majority of places, not just on my southern hemisphere trip recently, but throughout Europe too.
It's easy to load the different currencies from your personal account and you only need to load what you need for the immediate future rather than for your whole trip. This is a bonus in case you lose your card.
Again when I swapped countries, it was very easy to swap currencies using the app on my phone.
The only comment I would make is that occasionally the multi-currency travel car that I had, which was a British Post Office card, didn't function or wasn't recognised by some EFTPOS systems in NZ.
So you really do need the backup of a traditional credit card or debit card as well.... just in case.
As for cash, I always get a small amount of currency to keep in my wallet just in case of emergencies but you don't need any more than NZ$50/£25 in my opinion.
Finally i would also suggest that you do your research before you go so that you don't get caught out. Find out what is prevalent in the country you are visiting.
Good luck.
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