Over 30% of UK Customers Now Use Mobile Contactless Payment, Report Reveals
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A report by UK Finance revealed that the total number of payments made in the UK surged by 5% last year while over 30% of Brits now use the tap-to-pay feature on their phones.
The report revealed that the total number of payments was 48.1 billion, which is an improvement from the 45.7 billion made the previous year. Businesses accounted for 15% while consumers made up a whopping 85% of the numbers.
Debit Cards Are Now The Most Popular Payment Methods
Debit cards accounted for 51% of the entire payments made last year, which makes it the most popular payment method for the year. Faster Payments became the third most popular payment method after overtaking the Direct Debit payment option.
However, the volume of cash payments fell after witnessing a notable rise for the first time in 10 years. Last year, 40% of UK adults were living majorly cashless lives as cash payments accounted for only 12% of all payments made in 2023.
The use of mobile contactless payment options has continued to surge every year, and last year was no different. According to the report, UK adults made 18.3 billion contactless payments last year, which shows a 7% surge. In total, 38% of all payments in 2023 were on contactless payments. It shows that more people are finding it more convenient to use contactless payments.
The report also revealed that the number of users for mobile contactless payment options like Google Pay and Apple Pay reached 42%. It represents an increase considering that the previous year’s record was a 30% surge. When it comes to usage, over 30% of them utilize contactless payments at least once every month.
More Brits Are Now Confident Of Leaving Their Wallets At Home
Head of Research at UK Finance, Adrian Buckle, commented on the development. He stated that the company is forecasting that the long-run trend of the quick adoption of other payment methods and the decline of cash payment methods will continue. More users are quickly ditching cash payments and embracing cards and Faster Payments.
The report is in line with the recent research by Margeta, which discovered that 8 in 10 Brits used contactless payment over the past week.
This is almost twice that reported in the United States. The report also revealed that more than 50% of customers have cut down on their cash spending. It also shows that over 60% of UK customers are more confident of going out without their physical wallets.
