New data reveals Lancaster is expected to be one of the FIRST cashless cities in the UK
This places the north west city in 14th on the ranking for places embracing contactless, with a year-on-year increase of eight per cent.
The top three being Brighton in third place at 82 per cent (but with a 12 per cent year-on-year increase), behind Halifax in at two with 84 per cent, both of which are behind the leader, St Albans, at 86 per cent.
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Hide AdFollowing a 60 per cent decrease in the use of cash machines in April 2020, Paymentsense analysed their unique data over the last six months to find out which UK cities used cash the least.
The data also found which cities preferred contactless and digital payments the most, and which cities had the highest year-on-year increase in these payment methods.
An overwhelming 79 per cent 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.
Lancaster residents weren't as keen on using their phones to pay as plastic, not placing in the top 20 places embracing the tech.
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Hide AdJon 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.”
The full survey can be found here
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