The end of cash, sooner than you might think
Debit cards are set to become UK’s most frequently used payment method by 2018, thus accelerating the end of cash by three years, Daily Mail reports.
Due to the fact that there has been a rapid growth in the use of contactless cards, this method of payment will become the most popular in the UK by the end of next year, according to forecasts by Payments UK.
Figures show that debit cards were used 11.6 billion times in 2016, with one in five transactions being made contactless, while cash was used for 15.4 billion payments last year – 40% of the payments.
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By the end of next year, it is expected for 13.4 billion payments to be made by debit card, with one in three being contactless, and cash is expected to be used in 13.3 billion payments.
“The popularity of contactless means that we expect debit cards to overtake cash as the UK’s most frequently used payment method in late 2018, three years earlier than we previously thought. This is a significant shift but it’s vital to note that even in the face of this change, we believe any claims the UK will soon become a cashless society are wide of the mark,” said Adrian Buckle, chief economist at Payments UK.
“Contactless cards have paved the way for rapid adoption of mobile payment systems…Today one in five of us will use the technology at least once a day, rising to a third of people in London,” James Frost, UK chief marketing officer of payments processor Worldpay, said.
Nevertheless, Payments UK states that cash is expected to still make up around a fifth (21%) of payments in 10 years’ time.
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