A payment with an Eftpos debit card is a cheaper means of making a payment than using cash, as long as the purchase is more than $10, a study of payments costs by the Reserve Bank of Australia found. Cash is cheaper if the payment is less than $10.The conclusion is largely consistent with international research surveyed by the RBA but possibly counter intuitive, at least for a moderate purchase.The chief reason is that the cost of making a payment in cash includes the cost of sourcing that cash - most likely from an ATM which would attract fees and take some time. The RBA assumed that each ATM withdrawal (of $175 on average) supported eight cash payments.The RBA published its study of payment costs yesterday following a conference held in connection with the review of payments regulations enacted by the Payments System Board over recent years.Using average payments as a basis for comparing costs and skipping over the research methodology, the RBA found that the weighted average cost for an average payment at the point of sale (for the relevant payment type) was:• 55 cents for a cash payment• 67 cents for an Eftpos payment• $1.21 for a credit card payment, and• $7.68 to someone writing a cheque.For payments beyond the point of sale, such as bill payments, the RBA found the weighted average cost (once again relevant to the payment type was):• Around 51 cents for a direct debit payment• Around 97 cents for a BPay payment• Around $1.28 for a credit card payment• Around $5.16 for a cheque payment.This data flows from months of research by the Payments Policy Department at the RBA and with plenty of help from nine financial institutions and 12 major merchants. The RBA also engaged Roy Morgan Research to recruit 1000 people to keep a record of each payment over two weeks, of whom almost 700 completed the task.A more accurate snapshot of the costs of different payment methods is of interest to the PSB and many of its industry antagonists in resolving whether and how to modify the suite of regulations applicable to credit cards, scheme debit, Eftpos, BPay and ATMs in Australia, and all introduced progressively since 2003.An earlier, and influential, study of payment costs in 2000 informed much of the RBA's later regulation of many payments streams.This latest study attempts to address many of the industry gripes over the defects in the earlier study.