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One in three Britons made contactless payments via phone each month last year while transactions in cash fell as consumers continued to turn away from using it as a spending tool.
The findings of a report by trade body UK Finance and consultancy Accenture point to the surge in popularity of digital wallet services such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, in part because of their enhanced security and looser spending limits.
Some 34 per cent of British consumers used mobile contactless payments at least once a month in 2023, the first time this has been calculated.
The share of UK adults registered with a digital wallet also surged to 42 per cent in 2023, up from 30 per cent the previous year.
In 2023, cash accounted for 12 per cent of all payments, down from 14 per cent in 2022, according to the report published on Wednesday. The most common form of payment was chip-and-pin debit cards, which accounted for half of all payments, while contactless payments, both by card and mobile, made up 38 per cent.
The decline in physical money is in line with a long-term trend, although its use rose year on year for the first time in a decade in 2022 as consumers looked to control their spending amid rising living costs.
Mobile payments made via digital wallets have surged in popularity in part because of their biometric security features. They also do not have the same £100-per-payment limit as contactless plastic cards.
“Just as credit and debit cards once offered consumers a more seamless option than cash or cheques . . . payment methods like digital wallets are quickly gaining market share,” said Sulabh Agarwal, global payments lead at Accenture.
The growth of digital wallets has also caught the attention of financial watchdogs. The Payment Systems Regulator and the Financial Conduct Authority launched an investigation last week into the competitiveness of wallets provided by Apple, Google and PayPal.
“Digital wallets are steadily becoming a go-to payment type and, while this presents exciting opportunities, there might be risks too,” said David Geale, PSR managing director, in a statement announcing the probe.
Regulators are particularly keen to understand the implications of digital wallets on competition, consumer protection and market integrity.
Researchers say cash will probably continue to fall in popularity over the next 10 years, but they expect the rate of decline to slow as its use becomes concentrated among people who strongly prefer it.
Campaigners say recent payment and IT outages also show the alternative to digital still holds a place.
John Howells, chief executive of Link, which operates the UK’s ATM network, said better resilience was needed in the digital payment system and that the global IT outage last week was “a good example of why we’re not getting rid of cash in this country any time soon”.
