'Death of cash' in the UK greatly exaggerated as consumers change paying habits

Despite a decline in cash transactions across the UK, the foreseen 'death of cash' has been largely exaggerated according to this year's annual Payments Survey from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) published today. The survey found that cash remains the preferred payment method in the majority of transactions, accounting for over 52 percent of transaction payments.

However, the average value of transactions across all payment methods dropped again this year, which according to the BRC is evidence of the continual change within the UK's retail industry. The survey also found that more and more UK consumers are swapping over to non-traditional payment methods to complete their transactions. Non-card replacement product, such as payment via app, usage has grown six-fold over the past five years. Although the method of payment remains a small percentage of the overall payment options, it is predicted to increase over the coming years.

"Cash remains the cheapest method of payment for retailers to process and, for the moment, it remains the most frequently used method of payment too," commented BRC Director General, Helen Dickinson. "We’re entering an exciting time for retail as technology continues to have a major impact on everything we do – this is just as true for methods of payment as it is for how products are sold."

"Meeting new demands from consumers, how and where they want to shop or how they wish to pay, retailers will need to innovate in order to continue to meet customer demand. Unnecessary financial burdens will only make this work harder. In order to remain a world leader in retail innovation, we all need to work together to make sure that these burdens are removed."