Australians are some of the world most prolific ‘tap-and-go’ card users, but are not keen on the next step.

Global banking research firm RFi Consulting has found that 59 per cent of Australians have made a purchase with a contactless card.

In New Zealand that rate is just 53 per cent, 50 per cent in Singapore, 38 per cent for the UK and 16 per cent in the US.

Many banks are now pushing ‘wallet-less’ technologies, such as using NFC (near-field communication) on phones to make payments with no cards at all.

This does not appear to appeal to Australian just yet, with only 24 per cent saying they would try the ‘mobile wallet’ technology, and just 10 per cent of Australians surveyed saying they had.

In India and China, about one-third of respondents are using the technology.

Seventy-seven per cent of Americans said they were extremely likely to use the technology.

More than half the respondents in emerging economies such as the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, China, Brazil and Indonesia said they would use mobile wallet technologies if they were available.

RFi managing director Alan Shields has told the ABC that Australians have a slightly odd relationship with the different technologies.

“It is probably because contactless credit and debit cards have been so successful and the incremental benefits are not enough — or been explained well enough — to make the jump,” Mr Shields said.

“You would be lucky if you get the right card from the right bank that connects with the right phone at the moment.”

Currently, NAB has a digital wallet that requires an Android-based phone, ANZ can do Apple Pay only on an iPhone 6 or newer device, Westpac requires a recent Samsung, and CBA customers can pay with either Apple or Android devices.

But the survey showed that ANZ customers were most likely to embrace mobile payments, followed by the CBA.

Australians were about half as likely as Mexicans, Chinese people or Brazilians to imagine living in a cashless society.