This just in, mobile money is the most hygienic way to pay. It’s not just convenient, helps you avoid handling cash, which is a breeding ground for bacteria.

According to MasterCard, Oxford University researchers studied bacteria on bank notes and found that our money is a breeding ground for bacteria. The bank notes they tested have on average 26,000 bacteria, which is ripe for passing on infection.

In a world obsessed with coughing in your sleeve and using hand sanitizer, the “dirt” factor of cash may be enough to move some people on to mobile money. Particularly when, as the article points out, there’s new “antibiotic resistant strains” of bacteria that put us at risk. Not quite time to sound the alarm, but a unique selling feature of mobile money if nothing else.