Debit card payments have overtaken cash purchases for the first time in the UK, a new report has revealed.
The news should come as a prompt for businesses to ensure they are offering all available payment options to customers.
The figures, published by UK Finance, show that consumers used debit cards 13.2 billion times last year, up 14 per cent compared to the year previously. Cash transactions fell 15 per cent over the same period to 13.1 billion.
The rise of the debit card has almost certainly been spurred on by contactless technology, which doubled to 5.6 billion transactions over the same period.
The study also shows that contactless cards are now used by 63 per cent of the UK population, while 3.4 million never use cash.
The Guardian suggests that card payments are growing faster than expected due to smaller businesses “embracing” contactless technology and e-commerce.
Meanwhile, Stephen Jones, chief executive of UK Finance, said businesses shouldn’t write off cash just yet, but the economy is poised for change.
“We’re far from becoming a cash-free society and despite the UK transforming to an economy where cash is less important than it once was, it will remain a payment method that continues to be valued and preferred by many.
“These trends are likely to shift further over the next decade. Developments such as Open Banking are expected to bring extensive changes to the payments landscape, something that will likely shape how we interact with our money in the coming years.”
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