A new report by UK merchant service provider, Paymentsense, reveals that 84% of all transactions are now made via contactless cards in Halifax. This was closely followed by Brighton at 82% and just behind leader, St Albans at 86%.
Following a 60% decrease in the use of cash machines in April 2020, Paymentsense analysed their unique data over the last 6 months to find out which UK cities used cash the least.
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The data also found which cities preferred contactless and digital payments the most, and which cities had the highest year-on-year (YoY) increase in these payment methods.
The findings have been mapped and the UK’s Capital of Contactless Card payments is ready to be revealed.
Halifax leads the way with the second highest % uptake of contactless credit and debit cards
The study reveals that Halifax, West Yorkshire, is the one of the UK’s Card Payment Capitals for an exponential increase in the use of contactless. A huge 84% of payments in Halifax were made by contactless cards since the Covid-19 pandemic began, with a significant YoY increase of 13%.
St Albans was top with 86% of payments proving contactless (+19% YoY), with Brighton in third, boasting 82% of cash-free transactions (+12% YoY).
Halifax residents not keen on tech-savvy Apple & Google Pay
An overwhelming 79% of Brits are estimated to own a smartphone. So, with Covid causing businesses to refuse cash, digital contactless payment technologies like Apple and Google pay are on the up. Halifax residents weren’t keen on using their phones to pay. Here, St Albans leads in adoption of Apple/Google pay since the pandemic started in 2020 with with a 9% increase in usage over the last six months and +4% between 2019 and 2020.
Jon Knott, Head of Customer Insight at Paymentsense said:
“Coronavirus has undoubtedly forced change in our lives and shopping habits. As more businesses refuse cash as a precaution against Covid, it makes perfect sense that the use of contactless cards are on the up this year, more than ever.
Our findings confirm that major cities are transitioning to a cashless society at a rapid pace. However, as we’ve seen with St. Albans it isn’t just the UK’s big cities going cash-free; smaller towns are increasingly choosing contactless methods. With the pandemic ongoing, it seems that a cashless Britain may be here sooner than we thought.”
