Cash now used for less than half of sales on high street

CASH is being used for less than half of all transactions on the high street.

Common purchases such as a takeaway coffee or a bus fare are now routinely being made with contactless cards – meaning notes and coins are fast becoming redundant.

Latest figures from the British Retail Consortium show that 47 per cent of retail spending involved cash last year – down from 52 per cent in 2014. If the trend continues, cash would be used for less than 10 per cent of purchases within a decade.

The shift is good news for banks and retailers because they do not have the cost of printing, transporting and recycling notes and coins. It also reduces losses to counterfeiting.

It is not clear whether these savings are being passed on to customers in the form of lower prices. Tom Ironside of the BRC said: ‘Though the use of cash has been in decline for some time now, this year it has seen a significant dip.

‘Contactless is proving incredibly popular for those lower value transactions that used to be the mainstay for cash. This change has been made possible by retailers investing heavily in new payments technology, making it easier and quicker for customers to securely complete transactions in store.’

However he insisted cash is not yet dead, adding: ‘It remains an important payment method and will be with us for years to come.’