Payments

Debit cards ‘most used’ payment method

UK Finance data also reveals that contactless mades up a third of all payments in 2021, while cash use fell again.

Debit cards were the most used payment method in 2021, accounting for 48% of all payments, according to data published by UK Finance. The company’s latest Payment Markets Report shows the number of cash payments fell by 1.7% in 2021, although it remained the second-most-commonly-used payment method, used for 15% of all payments in the UK.

A total of 40.4 billion payments were made during 2021, which represented a return to pre-pandemic levels.

The number of debit card and credit card payments, which fell in 2020, rose again in 2021 to 22.9 billion payments – 57% of all UK payments were made using cards. Debit cards remained the most common payment method, up 23% to 19.5 billion payments.

The research shows contactless payments continue to grow in popularity. Almost a third of all payments in the UK were made via contactless methods in 2021, up 36% compared with 2020.

The number of cash payments decreased by 1.7% to six billion, although it remained the second-most-commonly-used payment method, accounting for 15% of all payments made in the UK last year.

During 2021 there were 23.1 million consumers who used cash only once a month or not at all, a huge rise from 13.7 million the previous year. At the same time, 1.1 million consumers mainly used cash for their day-to-day shopping.

Adrian Buckle, Head of Research at UK Finance, said 2021 saw total payments return to pre-pandemic levels and a return towards the long-run trends in payment method usage.

He added: “These are trends we expect to continue over the next decade, alongside a continued decline in cheque use, and an increase in the number of people using remote banking.”