43% believe the UK is ready for a cashless society
Posted on in Cycles News
With Waitrose opening its first cashless store last week, there is growing demand on the high-street for outlets to follow suit and do away with cash transactions all together.
Statistics show that card spending has risen exponentially year-on-year for a decade.
Debit and credit card sales accounted for 77% of the total retail spend in May. Retail sector spending increased by £154 million to £24.6 billion. There were 100 million more purchases made on card than this time last year.
18% of all card purchases are now made with contactless cards, compared to 7% in May 2015.
Online shopping, contactless payments and more outlets accepting card payments means the prominence of cashless payment has and will continue to rise.
"Cards are the preferred way to pay for millions of consumers, whether picking up something small and using a contactless card or shopping online. With payment cards being used more than ever, we expect these trends to continue," said Richard Koch, the head of policy at The UK Cards Association.
The British Retail Consortium said: "Retailers welcome the convenience provided by contactless which provides a fast and easy method of payment for our customers, as we have seen through the huge growth of contactless payment terminals in retail outlets across the UK over the past 2 years, and the ever increasing volume of online sales."
In 2014, a look at the spending habits of consumers on the high street showed that 60% of shoppers had left a shop because they were unable to make a card purchase in store.
Over half of them state that they would shop more locally if they knew retailers would accept card payments.
43% of those interviewed stated said they believe the UK is ready for a cashless society.
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