Consumers’ use of mobile contactless payment significantly increased last year – when the number of people mainly using cash also rose.
There was also a move towards people making more transactions for lower sums, the latest Payment Markets report from UK Finance and Accenture found.
The study found 38% of all payments made in the UK during 2023 were contactless and a third of adults used mobile contactless payments at least once a month.
UK Finance reported “a marked increase in the number of people who reported being registered for mobile contactless payments” such as Apple Pay and Google Pay to 42% of adults, up from 30% in 2022.
UK Finance said: “Given that mobile phone penetration is above 90% in the UK, there is room for mobile contactless payments to continue to increase in usage, although we expect that this is mainly likely to be reflected in a migration of payments from contactless cards to mobile contactless devices.”
Cash accounted for 12% of all payments in 2023, down from 14% in 2022. However, the number of people mainly using cash last year rose to 2.6% of the population – an increase from 1.7% the previous year.
The total number of payments made in the UK was up 5% to 48.1 billion. UK Finance said: “Spending data over recent years suggests that there has been a shift towards consumers making a greater number of transactions that are each worth a lower individual amount, albeit without necessarily increasing the overall amount spent.
”Anecdotal evidence suggests that this trend is caused by increased numbers of shopping trips, the transition to hybrid working, the use of multiple bank accounts, and the increased use of Buy Now Pay Later services.”
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