One in Ten UK Adults Are Cashless

Anyone who’s been a reader here for a while now knows that the United Kingdom is fond of mobile payments systems. We’ve heard more than a little news about how high street shopping is being fundamentally altered by this new technology, especially in London and the like. New word from UK Finance, meanwhile, shows just how far this trend is going as over 10 percent of young adults in the UK are now running exclusively on cards or digital payment systems.

More specifically, UK Finance noted that 2.9 million users were only rarely using cash, a figure which amounted to six percent of the total adult population of the United Kingdom. For consumers between 25 and 34, 11 percent are likely to pay cash just once a month, if that. By way of comparison, consumers between 55 and 64 only answered likewise in two percent of cases.

By 2026, UK Finance projects, cash payments will fall to 8.7 billion such transactions by 2026, with a combined cash value of 185 billion pounds sterling. Given that 2016’s numbers were 240 billion pounds sterling, it’s a clear drop-off

UK Finance’s chief economist Adrian Buckle noted “It is clear that over the past few years we have witnessed a significant shift away from cash use in this country with contactless cards undoubtedly causing a decrease in the use of notes and coins. However, we don’t believe that the UK is on the verge of becoming cashless, as some reports have claimed. People will always want to choose the payment methods that best suit them and, for the foreseeable future, in lots of cases that will continue to be cash.”

Here Buckle is correct, but what he doesn’t seem to note is the age differential. When you go from two percent in the over-55 crowd to 11 percent of the 25-34, you see a clear gain among the youth. Now, naturally, that’s still not a call to cashlessness. Eleven percent isn’t a cashless society.

But you’re still seeing clear gains in cashless operations, and if those gains hold out, eventually you will see a society that has gone cashless largely by choice. If retailers start shifting stances, refusing to take cash, or if governments demonetize like in India, that will only speed up the shift.