Cash Use Rises in the UK

For the first time in years, cash usage has risen in the UK, and not by a small percentage. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) conducts an annual Payments Survey which covers 35% of the UK’s retailers, and this is the first time since it started the survey in 2013 that it has seen an increase.

While card payments fell from 83% of transactions at the point of sale in 2021 to 76% in 2022, cash rose from 15% to 19%. By value, cash rose from 8% to 11% over the same period.

In 2020, cash transactions were 30% of the total number of cash transactions.

Financial pressure

Evidence that consumers are under financial pressure is that the average transaction value fell from £24.49 to £22.43, and the need to budget is given as the driver for increased cash usage. Credit card spend fell from £33.49 in 2021 to £30.57 in 2022, the lowest value recorded, and the debit card transaction average fell from £25.11 to £23.39.