Cards, contactless and mobile wallets
Cards and digital payments continue to dominate consumer spending. Debit cards accounted for more than half of all payments in 2025, remaining the UK’s most‑used payment method.
Contactless payments – whether made using a physical card or a mobile device – rose by two per cent to 19.2 billion, representing 39 per cent of all payments. A decade ago, contactless made up just three per cent of transactions.
Mobile wallet usage continues to become more widespread since the launch of mobile payments in 2015. 65 per cent of UK adults were registered for at least one mobile payment service in 2025, up from 57 per cent in 2024.
Users who adopt mobile wallets typically become frequent users, and mobile contactless is increasingly replacing physical card contactless. Mobile wallet adoption varies by age however: 89 per cent of 25–34-year-olds are registered, compared with 29 per cent of over 65s.
Faster Payments and remote banking
Remote banking continues to be the default way people manage their finances, with 91 per cent of UK adults using at least one form of online, mobile or telephone banking in 2025. This was an increase from 88 per cent in 2024. Mobile banking remains the preferred option, used by 75 per cent of adults.
Account‑to‑account payments also continue to grow. Faster Payments and other remote banking payments reached 6.2 billion in 2025, making them the second most‑used payment method in the UK, behind debit cards. Volumes rose 10 per cent year on year, driven particularly by increased business usage.
Over the past decade, consumer growth has been fuelled by people using Faster Payments to split bills and send money to friends and family – replacing transactions that were once made in cash.
Cash
Cash usage continued to decline, falling to 3.9 billion payments in 2025, down from 4.3 billion the previous year. Cash represented eight per cent of all payments, compared with nine per cent in 2024 and 45 per cent in 2015.
Despite the long‑term decline, the move away from cash appears to be slowing, reflecting the fact that cash remains important for many people. Around 1.4 million people – three per cent of UK adults – mainly use cash for their day-to-day spending. Maintaining appropriate access to cash therefore remains an important priority, ensuring that consumers retain choice and that no one is left behind as payment preferences continue to evolve.
At the same time, however, 19 million people – a third of UK adults – use cash once a month or less frequently, reflecting the wide variation in people’s preferences about how to pay for things.
Innovation and looking ahead
Payments are critical to the UK economy, and the continued ability to easily make and receive payments in a secure and trusted way is essential to our daily lives.
The Payment Markets Report looks ahead to 2035, forecasting continued growth in digital payments alongside a stable, residual role for cash.
Innovation across the sector is accelerating, supported by the government’s National Payments Vision and significant investment to modernise the UK’s retail payments infrastructure. New technologies and payment models are expanding consumer choice and reshaping how money moves.
In future, innovations such as account-to-account payments at the point of sale may offer increased choice to consumers and businesses alike.
Continued close engagement between government, regulators and industry will be essential to provide the clarity, certainty and pace needed to unlock investment, support innovation, and ensure the UK retains its position at the forefront of payments.
Adrian Buckle, Head of Research at UK Finance, said:
UK Finance’s latest data show that the UK is now a predominantly digital economy when it comes to making and receiving payments. Faster Payments continue to grow strongly, while cards remain central to everyday spending.
The trends of the past decade are becoming increasingly established. Cash usage is declining, albeit more gradually, and growth across many payment methods is stabilising as the market matures.
The industry is now entering a new phase of innovation. New payment technologies have the potential to reshape how people and businesses move money, and continued close engagement across government, regulators and industry will be essential to unlock that potential.
