A report by VoucherCodes has found 47% of all transactions are expected to be contactless by the end of 2022.
According to Forecourt Trader, the report titled Life after Covid: Prospects for online retailing, physical stores and how we pay examined the effect of the pandemic on how UK shoppers pay for goods.
The study discovered that pre-pandemic, chip and pin was still the most popular way to pay, accounting for 37% of all transactions in the UK, while contactless only accounted for 17% of all payments.
VoucherCodes found, however, that chip and pin payments are anticipated to decline to just 25% of all purchases with cash payments also seeing a sharp fall, accounting for 11% of all payments by the end of 2022.
The report detailed the switch will see a 30% increase in contactless payments compared to pre-pandemic as consumer and retail attitudes change due to the pandemic. VoucherCodes commented that shoppers swapped cash for card for hygiene-related reasons, while some merchants also stopped accepting cash.
By 2022, card payments are forecasted to account for around 72% of all transactions.
VoucherCodes lifestyle editor Anita Naik said, ?Covid-19 has forever changed the way consumers spend their money. With exponential increases in online orders during the pandemic, combined with increased contactless limits and retailers implementing cash bans, people have quickly adapted to relying on contactless payments for the bulk of purchases as a result.
?It remains to be seen whether the government will amend laws relating to legal tender, enabling retailers to permanently refuse to accept cash if they wish. Ultimately, only time will tell, but in the immediate future, whereby cash was once key, contactless is our future.p>
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