This past weekend saw the end of cash leading as the most popular payment method in the UK. On Sunday March 8th, more transactions were made via credit, debit and other cashless methods than that of cash. The Payments Council had predicted that this switch would occur in the UK in 2015.
See the figures in the article from The Telegraph, one shows the total value of cash vs. credit transactions from 2014 and the credit transactions out valued cash at a rate of 250:1. This is due to the fact that large corporations who deal with high-value transactions rarely touch cash.
The figures also continue to show the decreasing average payment on a credit or debit card, the rise of contactless payments, and the decrease of average cash transactions over the last few years. These are telltale signs that cash is losing its grip on consumers and is being replaced by digital transactions.
It is suggested that by 2023, cash transactions will fall to just 13 billion and the cashless alternative will grow to a staggering 27 billion.
The direction of the payments industry is hard to deny, as years pass cash will begin to become an obsolete payment method that is rarely used by the everyday consumer. As new technology continues to emerge, cash slips a little further from relevance.
How long will it be until cash is no longer carried by the everyday consumer? Only time will tell but right now it seems as if it is sooner rather than later.
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