WASHINGTON — Moving from cash to digital payments will provide enormous direct advantages to consumers, businesses and governments, according to a research released by Visa, a leading global payments technology company, on Wednesday.

Thanks to technological developments, more and more people have been adopting digital payments in their daily life all around the world. A cashless society, says Michael Busk-Jepsen of the Danish Bankers Association, "is no longer an illusion but a vision that can be fulfilled in a reasonable time frame."

The research covered 100 major cities across 80 countries in the world, and found that increasing digital payments across these cities could result in total direct net benefits of $470 billion per year, representing more than three percent of combined GDP of all these cities.

The digitalization transformation will save $28 billion for consumers by saving their time in banking, transit and retail transactions and reducing cash-related crime, according to the research done by Roubini ThoughtLab, a research firm, under the request of Visa.

Businesses would also benefit enormously, as accepting cash and checks costs businesses about seven cents of every dollar received compared to five cents for every dollar collected from digital sources. The research found that total net benefits to businesses across all 100 cities could amount to over $312 billion.

Moreover, reduced crime and tax loopholes in a cashless society would benefit the government. The research estimated that the total net benefits for governments could reach $130 billion a year.