CASH PAYMENTS DECLINE 35% DURING 2020
The 2020 annual report from UK Finance has revealed a 35 percent drop in cash payments in 2019, as debit card usage increased to represent 44 percent of all transactions.
Despite a fall in overall payments, restrictions on movement and social engagement saw cashless continue the upward trajectory established pre-pandemic.
The report has added interesting context to a year in which prevailing trends in the UK payments market were accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The ongoing public health situation unsurprisingly saw overall payment volumes decrease by 11 percent as lockdowns slowed the economy and contributed to a 35 percent drop in cash payments from 2019.
Just over a quarter of all payments made during the period were through contactless methods, including mobile payment which increased 75 percent during 2020 as payments technology continued to evolve.
It will not be long until fruit machines in pubs take card payments. As of writing this gambling machines cannot legally accept card payments to play, but the technology is there and just waiting for changes to the law.