AI-written summary of reporting by BBC News. No human editor reviewed this. AI can misread or omit facts — read the original, linked below.
ABSTRACT

Debit cards, including those used via smartphones, were the most common payment method in the United Kingdom last year, accounting for 54% of all payments, according to the annual UK Payments Market report. Some 39% of all payments were made by contactless methods.

BBC News

Debit cards accounted for 54% of UK payments in 2024, annual report shows

Debit cards accounted for 54% of UK payments in 2024, annual report shows
Aug 18, 2026, 7:04 PM

Debit cards, including those used via smartphones, were the most common payment method in the United Kingdom last year, accounting for 54% of all payments, according to the annual UK Payments Market report. Some 39% of all payments were made by contactless methods.

Context

Cash — notes and coins — was used in 3.9 billion payments, representing 8% of all transactions in the UK last year. UK Finance forecasts that share will halve to 4% of all payments, or approximately two billion transactions, by 2035.

The report said the UK would not become a cashless society over the next decade, but would instead 'transition to an economy where cash is less important than it once was but remains widely valued and still preferred by some.' Nearly 50 million people used a cash machine last year.

Cheques, which had been scheduled for phase-out by 2018 before MPs pressed the payments industry to reverse that decision, have declined to 0.2% of UK payments, with 77 million written last year.

All Perspectives
UK Finance (report): The report states: 'Rather than the UK becoming a cash-free society over the next decade, the UK will transition to an economy where cash is less important than it once was but remains widely valued and still preferred by some.'
Nick Quin, Link: Quin, from Link, which oversees the UK's ATM network, said: 'Cash withdrawals are falling across every part of the country. More people find it convenient and prefer to pay using contactless cards and digital wallets on smartphones, but millions still rely on cash day in, day out. People on lower incomes rely more heavily or entirely on cash to budget, which is why our job is to protect access to cash for as long as people need it.'
Gaps & Unknowns
  • The source does not state the calendar year to which the payment figures apply — it refers to 'last year' without specifying whether that is 2024 or another year.
  • The source does not state the total number of payments made in the UK in the reference year, against which the percentage figures are calculated.
  • The source does not state the methodology or sample basis of the UK Payments Market report.
  • The source does not state what share of payments debit cards or cash accounted for in the prior year, making year-on-year change impossible to assess.
  • The source does not explain the basis for UK Finance's 2035 forecast figures.
  • The source does not state the total number of ATM cash withdrawals, only that nearly 50 million people used cash machines.
Sources & Further Reading
  1. BBC News — original

Read the original at BBC News

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