A new report from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has shown that the use of cash has grown for the first time in a decade, in a major boost to GB News’ ‘Don’t Kill Cash’ campaign.
Coins and banknotes account for nearly a fifth (19 per cent) of transactions across the UK in 2022, according to the BRC’s annual payments survey.
Its report said: “This year’s Payments Survey shows an increase in the use of cash for the first time in a decade, rising from 15 per cent (in 2021) to just under 19 per cent of transactions (in 2022).
“In the face of rising costs of living, cash has been a useful tool for some people to manage their finances and track their daily spending.”
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The increase also reflects a normal return to cash following the move to contactless payments during the Covid-19 pandemic, the report said.
The results highlight the importance of giving customers payment options, with more and more stores, cafes, bars and shops choosing to accept card payments only.
GB News launched its ‘Don’t Kill Cash’ campaign earlier this year amid concerns that vulnerable people who rely on cash are increasingly being left behind.
The BRC said it was the first time since the BRC began its reporting in 2013 that there had been an annual increase in cash use.
However, the report noted that the recovery in cash use in retail is “rather small”, with “only a relatively small increase as a share of total sales by value, rising from 8.2 per cent in 2021 to 11 per cent in 2022”. .
The report added: “It appears that while a small percentage of people have returned to pre-pandemic habits, for a large portion of the population, the pandemic has had a lasting impact on the amount of cash we transact.”
Card payments were used in 76% of transactions in 2022, with debit cards accounting for about four in five of these transactions.
Retailers spent £1.26 billion on card processing fees in 2022, the BRC said.
The research also found that alternative payment methods – including options such as buy now and pay later – have increased in popularity in the past year, from two per cent of transactions in 2021 to five per cent in 2022.
The survey found that consumers made smaller but more frequent payments.
The number of transactions rose from 17.2 billion in 2021 (47.2 million per day) to 19.6 billion in 2022 (53.7 million per day), while the average transaction value fell from £24.49 to £22.43.
“We are now seeing a return to many of the pre-pandemic payments trends, including smaller but more frequent purchases, and a slight return to cash payments,” said Hannah Regan, payments policy advisor at the BRC.
Ron Delnevo, president of the Payment Choice Alliance, told GB News he was confident cash usage would continue to rise. “The use of cash will continue to increase, as more and more people realize how great cash is for managing their spending – and of course, it always works. Cash never breaks down,” he said.
“It’s good to see the BRC producing research like this; High Street banks tend to downplay the use of cash, perhaps because they want to give the impression that Britain is hurtling towards ‘cashless’, which it is not.”