Cashless payments overtake cash for the first time

Cashless payments have overtaken the use of notes and coins for the first time in the UK, according to industry body, The Payments Council.

The research reveals that the use of cash by consumers, businesses and financial organisations fell by 4 percent to 48 percent last year.

The remaining 52 percent was made up of electronic transactions, ranging from high-value transfers to debit card payments, as well as cheques, reflecting the growing trend towards using automated payment methods and debit cards rather than paying by notes and coins.

However, cash remains the most popular payment method by volume, followed by the debit card, which accounted for 24 percent of all payments last year.

Despite the shift, cash remains the most popular way to pay among consumers, who used it for more than half (52 percent) of all their transactions in 2014. The current forecast is that this figure will drop below 50 percent in 2016, but The Payments Council added that there is no prediction for cash to disappear.

Commenting on The Payment Council’s figures, Dave Hobday, MD of Worldpay UK, said: “We know that 10 percent of Brits don’t carry any cash on them, so if you’re only taking cash payments, that’s one in 10 potential customers who will never consider shopping with you.

“Cash puts barriers back up just when technology is punching a hole straight through them. Any retailer still clinging to the notion that cash will make a comeback is missing the biggest shift in the way we live our lives since the industrial revolution.”