Most travellers feel it is safer to carry plastic money rather than withdrawing stacks of banknotes, a recent survey by international credit card company Visa has affirmed.

Forty-five per cent of those surveyed said they relied primarily on payment cards. And 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, Visa's Travel Smart survey said.

As one might expect, Indians are more conservative than most others in this matter. Indian travellers figured third in the list of travellers across the globe who withdrew large amount of cash before a trip overseas. Despite their awareness of the risks of carrying large amounts of cash, Indian travellers withdrew an average $1,431, according to the survey.

Respondents from New Zealand withdraw the most cash for their trip ($1,516), followed by Australians ($1,441).

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, while leisure travellers are more inclined to use cash (58 per cent) than cards (41 per cent), the survey revealed. Thirty per cent of business travellers carry less than $300 in cash, compared to leisure travellers (21 per cent carry under $300).

Younger travellers are more likely to pay electronically while overseas than the older ones. Older respondents are more likely to carry larger sums of cash (40 years and above: US $ 1,278) than younger ones (30-39 year olds: US $ 988; 18-29 year olds: US $ 1,058).

Not surprisingly, the most frequent places where people obtained cash were ATMs and money-changers at the airport and within the cities on arrival. The survey found that business travellers are more likely use ATMs for cash withdrawal (68 per cent) compared to leisure travellers (63 per cent).