Debit cards are set to overtake cash as the most frequently used payment method in the UK later this year.

The amount of cash removed from cash machines (ATMs) is falling fast, while other data shows customers are giving up cash for cards even for small purchases, as reported by The Guardian.

In 2006, 62 per cent of all payments in the UK were made using cash; in 2016 this had fallen to 40 per cent. By 2026, it is predicted cash will be used for just 21 per cent, according to figures from UK Finance, which represents leading finance and banking firms.

ATM data shows that in 2016, there were 2.7bn withdrawals from the country's 70,000 cash machines - the lowest number of transactions since 2010. The total amount of money withdrawn at ATMs has fallen sharply in the recent years; in 2016, people withdrew more than £6bn less than they did in 2015.

Bank of England figures meanwhile show that while the volume of cash in the economy typically increases every year, it is now doing so at the slowest rate since 1972.

In the UK, even at cafes and pubs, where people buy smaller value items, card payments are taking over. The pub chain Wetherspoon reported that the proportion of cash payments has fallen by about five percent every year for the past four years, dropping from 78% of all purchases in 2012-13 to 60% in 2016-17.

Pret a Manger said that more than half of their customers now paid by card and that the proportion was growing;

Cash has also declined dramatically for transport payments. In 2017, there were more than four times as many train ticket payments by card than by cash, according to data shared by the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators in the UK.

But concerns have been raised for vulnerable groups who might be disproportionately affected by any reduction in the ability to obtain or pay through cash. According to UK Finance, more than half of people who rely predominantly on cash have a household incomes below £15,000.

Cash is also essential for businesses like convenience stores where transactions tend to be very small, particularly as they are no longer able to add a fee for small card payments to cover their costs. Recent figures from the Association of Convenience Stores show that 33 per cent demand a minimum spend and eight per cent refuse to take car payments altogether.

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