UK Mobile Payments Reach 66% of Adults as Cash Use Slows to 8% of Transactions
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 18
UK Mobile Payments Reach 66% of Adults as Cash Use Slows to 8% of Transactions
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 18
Summary
Two-thirds of UK adults were registered with at least one mobile payment service in 2025, with more than 80% of 16-34s using mobile payments regularly versus 22% of over-65s.
Debit cards remained the dominant payment method at 54% of all transactions, and 39% of payments were contactless, showing phones and watches are increasingly replacing physical cards for everyday spending.
Cash still accounted for 3.9 billion payments, or 8% of the total, and nearly 50 million people used an ATM last year, indicating the long decline in notes and coins is easing rather than disappearing.
UK Finance expects cash use to halve to 4% of payments by 2035—about 2 billion transactions—but says the UK is shifting to a less-cash economy, not a cash-free one.