Consumers will continue to shun the use of cash in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, with huge growth in demand predicted for digital cards and services such as Apple Pay (opens in new tab) and Google Pay (opens in new tab).
A report produced by the Emerging Payments Association analyzed popular ways of paying for goods and services across Europe, finding that digital wallets are increasingly being used in place of cash, as well as credit and debit cards.
UK-based fintechs including Monzo (opens in new tab), Revolut and Starling (opens in new tab) look set to benefit most from the huge growth in digital payments, the report added, with fintech investment (opens in new tab) in the UK alone reaching £3.8bn last year.
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Digital wallets
The report added that mobile payments (opens in new tab) are set to increase dramatically in the near future, with 8.3 million people (19.1 per cent of smartphone users) in the UK having made at least one mobile payment in the last six months, and digital payments made using mobile phones expected to rise 25.5 per cent by 2023.
Over 70 per cent of debit and credit card payments in Britain are now contactless (opens in new tab). Meanwhile, demand for physical cash has slumped to an all time low, with ATM withdrawals falling by up to 57 per cent since the lockdown period began, according to recent data from the Link network.
Nicolas Mackel, CEO of Luxembourg for Finance, said: “The switch to digital payments looks set to happen much quicker than the shift to cards did in the past. The method of payment is becoming less important than the platform used, to the extent of becoming invisible.”
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Via Telegraph (opens in new tab)
