Raynor de Best
Content expert covering payments and (crypto)currencies
Digital payments landscape in the United Kingdom (UK) - statistics & facts
Digital payments in the UK are characterized by a heavy use of cards, and a rapid adoption of wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal. Indeed, it is noticeable how few domestic payments are in the UK. When asked which payment brand was used in stores or restaurants with a mobile device, most UK respondents replied with international brands over domestic alternatives. Barclays had a relatively high brand awareness, but actual use was relatively small. Cards remained king in the UK POS and e-commerce payments landscape, though. Their dominance is noticeable in POS payments, especially, due to the substantial integration of contactless (tap to pay) technology in issued credit and debit cards.
Digital payments refer to any form of cashless payment, or payments conducted without banknotes or coins, in an online or offline environment. Such payments can include mobile payments - digital payments performed with a mobile device - but also relatively new trends like buy now, pay later (BNPL), cryptocurrency, or instant (real-time) payments. Out of all these digital options, which developments are noteworthy to know about for the UK?
Digital payments refer to any form of cashless payment, or payments conducted without banknotes or coins, in an online or offline environment. Such payments can include mobile payments - digital payments performed with a mobile device - but also relatively new trends like buy now, pay later (BNPL), cryptocurrency, or instant (real-time) payments. Out of all these digital options, which developments are noteworthy to know about for the UK?
Contactless payments and the transition from cards to wallets
As UK consumers are already familiar with contactless payments, it is expected that mobile proximity payments with a wallet will eventually take over from cards. Younger people, especially, showed more interest in Apple Pay and Google Pay than older consumers. Over half of the UK population ages 16 to 24 had a mobile payment registration. Domestic payment association UK Finance expects older age groups will catch up with mobile payment adoption over the next 10 years, further adding to overall contactless payment spending in the country. That said, the number of debit cards in use in the UK is predicted to grow between 2023 and 2029, increasing by six million cards in that time frame. Debit cards are therefore believed to remain a leading payment method for years to come.UK research into digital payments is not necessarily for consumers
The United Kingdom is often mentioned with new technologies to help push the digitalization of its payment landscape. One initiative is the New Payments Architecture (NPA). This will replace Faster Payments (FP) and BACS clearing, to become a single central payments infrastructure for retail around 2030. Faster Payments is the country's real-time payments scheme. A second project is the research into Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC): The UK was one of the main countries worldwide to investigate such a virtual coin. Both projects, however, are focused on supporting banks, making it easier for them to transfer payments between them. The most common users of open banking in the UK were also a mix of either small business or consumers, further adding to the business focus of payments innovations in the UK.
