The Way We Pay 2009 - UK Cash & Cash Machines
71% of all cash acquired by consumers came from cash machines
2.9 billion cash machine withdrawals were made last year - equivalent to 91 withdrawals per second
Cash payment volumes are forecast to fall by 27% over the next 10 years
If current trends persist, next year for the first time debit card spending will overtake cash spending by value in the UK.
Whilst cash spending continues to remain relatively flat, the number of cash machine withdrawals continues to rise and is forecast to peak in 2011. Consumers are increasingly using cash machines for withdrawing cash, where previously they would have withdrawn money in bank branches or at post offices; five years ago only 54% of cash came from cash machines, last year 71% of cash was acquired that way. This shift has been driven by an increase in the availability and numbers of cash machines as well as the migration of payment for state benefits and pensions from cash and girocheque to automated methods.
The report also reveals that in 2008 consumers made 22.4 billion cash payments, amounting to a total value of £267 billion, and that UK cash machines paid out £192 billion in 2.9 billion transactions. By contrast, in 2008, debit cardholders made 5.5 billion purchases and spent £247 billion on their cards. Although consumer cash spending still amounts to more than that by any other single payment method, this may not remain the case for long - in 2010 consumer debit card spending is forecast to outstrip cash spending by value for the first time.
Edwin Latter, scheme director of Link said: “The report provides a clear picture of the nation’s usage and acquisition of cash, revealing how often we withdraw cash as well as the types of places where we make cash payments and what we buy there. For example, two-thirds of cash payments, by volume, last year were made in shops, and 5% of all the cash payments spent there were on entries to the National Lottery.
“Even though the report predicts that cash transactions by value could be overtaken by debits cards for the first time next year, no-one is claiming that the end of cash is nigh. By volume cash still remains king, and will remain so until a viable alternative for low value transactions is widely available.”
For information on how to order a copy, priced at £250, and for details of other publications available to purchase, please visit http://www.apacs.org.uk/publications.html
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