One in 10 go cashless as coins lose lustre
NEARLY ONE in 10 Britons no longer carry any loose change in their wallet regularly as “tap and go” contactless payments technology has grown in popularity, a survey has found.
Some nine per cent of people surveyed for Nationwide Current Accounts revealed that they do not carry any coins in their wallet – with one in seven men saying this compared with one in 25 women.
Nearly two-thirds of people said other than their regular bills, they usually pay for items using their card or contactless technology.
In September last year, the transaction limit for making a single payment using a contactless card was increased by £10 to £30, making it an increasingly handy alternative to cash.
A recent report from Payments UK predicted that debit cards are set to overtake cash to be the UK’s most frequently used payment method by 2021.
But despite the new ways to pay, Nationwide’s survey also found cash is often still the best option in some situations. One in three people have had to pay with cash on occasion as their cards were not accepted or technology was not working.
Asked how often they take cash from an ATM, 40 per cent of those surveyed said that they do so weekly, 22 per cent do so fortnightly and 18 per cent do so monthly.
Researchers also found women are more likely to carry reward cards, money off vouchers, receipts and stamps in their wallet than men. Some two per cent of people across the survey also said they carry their personal identification numbers ins in their wallet – which could make them an easier target for fraudsters if it is kept with their card.
Researchers questioned 2,000 people across the UK for the survey.