BLOOMINGTON - Mina Aitelhadj had about $8 and some change - less than the $10 she needed to renew her driver's license - when she went to the Secretary of State's office in Bloomington recently.

The Normal resident wasn't caught off guard by an unexpected fee; she expected to pay with her credit card. But after waiting in line and handing it over, she found out the agency only accepts Discover, cash and check.

"That was a bit of a problem," Aitelhadj said. "I had to run and get some cash at the ATM."

Aitelhadj doesn't carry more than $20 in her wallet and rarely spends cash, just for the emergency cup of coffee or gasoline. She prefers to use her debit card for most purchases.

The 26-year-old graduate student at Illinois State University is like a growing number of Americans.

Nationwide, 45 percent of consumers use cash less often than they did two years ago, according to the American Bankers Association's 2005-2006 Study of Consumer Payment Preferences. Of those people, 53 percent prefer to use debit cards, 40 percent opt for credit cards and 7 percent pay with checks.

Twin City consumers have largely switched from cash and check payments to electronic banking because of the availability of ATM machines, debit cards and online banking, said Greg James, business development officer at the Bank of Illinois in Normal.

It's rare to come across a business that does not accept a credit or debit card, said Diana Witte, vice president of cashiers at the Bank of Illinois.

"Cash is a thing of the past," Witte said. "People just don't carry it like they use to."

Meanwhile, businesses like The Filling Station in Lexington continue to jump onto the electronic bandwagon. Owner Jari Riisberg added a credit/debit card machine at her restaurant in February after customer requests.

Before she had the machine, she sent people across the street to the ATM to get money for their bills.

Now, every week, she sees more and more electronic transactions. Customers have even told her they'll eat there more because they can use a debit or credit card.

"I think it's here to stay," Riisberg said.

Some people will always use cash, but usage will continue to drop as more people learn about debit cards and their convenience, James said.

Direct deposit is now commonplace, and debit card use especially has grown in the past three years at the bank, Witte said. More change is to come in the next five to seven years, she said.

"It'll only grow. Eventually, we're going to go to a paperless society. There won't be checks anymore," Witte said.

Evidence of the growing trend is all over town.

Maryam Melgar of Normal uses cash for most of her day-to-day expenses, but she knows the conven-ience of debit cards. On a recent family vacation to Miami, Melgar took a debit card instead of cash.

The card was safer than carrying a lot of cash but helped her budget better than a credit card, she said.

Meanwhile, it's hard for Terri Quinn of Bloomington to think of times when she spends cash. She only uses it when a business does not accept a credit card.

"I don't even know how much cash I have in my wallet usually," Quinn said.