Wallets forgotten as we stop using cash

WALLETS and purses are on course to become obsolete with Britons carrying less cash than ever and increasing numbers switching to using only cards.

More than two in five people (43 per cent) say they keep less money in their pockets than they did two years ago, the study by Mastercard found.

A typical Briton now has a maximum of £5 on them at any given time and one in 10 has given up carrying a wallet or purse, preferring to keep a credit or debit card in their pocket.

The figure is likely to rise sharply with a further quarter (24 per cent) telling pollsters they are keen to stop carrying a wallet or purse.

The survey comes at a time when the number of transactions made with cards has increased annually by more than nine per cent, totalling 17 billion transactions in the UK last year.

Instead, wallets are increasingly becoming receptacles for largely useless items from old receipts and expired money-off tokens to used bus or train tickets, the survey found.

One in five people goes for a year of more without emptying out the junk from their wallets. Men were found to be the worst hoarders, with a quarter admitting to waiting a year or more.

“We’re in the midst of a period of unprecedented change for payments,” said Mark Barnett, of Mastercard.