33% of Adults in UK Now Use Mobile Payment Channel

33% of Adults in UK Now Use Mobile Payment Channels

Data released by UK Finance’s most recent Payment Markets Report has revealed that a significant number of English adults have incorporated mobile money into their daily lives. According to the report, at least one-third of adults in the United Kingdom used contactless mobile payments in 2023, making mobile money one of the most popular forms of payments in the country.

Produced in partnership with IT firm Accenture, the report found that total payments made through the year went up by 5% to hit 48.1 billion in 2023, up from 45.7 billion in 2022. Furthermore, 38% (four out of ten) of payments made in the UK last year were contactless, while a third of adults in the UK used mobile payments at least once every month.

On the other hand, the total number of contactless mobile payments dropped to 6 billion, and cash comprised only 12% of all payments made in the country, signifying a notable shift from cash payments to contactless mobile payments among UK adults. The Payment Markets Report found that Faster Payments was the third most used type of payment in the UK last year, surpassing Direct Debit.

Private consumers comprised the majority of all the country’s payments at 41 billion payments (85%) while not-for-profit organizations, the government and commercial companies made 7.1 billion payments (15%). Contactless payments have become incredibly popular in recent years, with their use being exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic; they are now a commonly used means of payment among adults in the UK.

Analysis by UK Financial also suggested that there has been a shift in consumer spending that has seen consumers move toward making a larger number of smaller transactions without increasing their overall spending. Anecdotal evidence points to higher shopping frequencies coupled with hybrid working, increased use of multiple bank accounts, with Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services observed as one of the main causes of this trend.

Despite the growing popularity of mobile payments, debit cards retained their number one spot, at 51% of all the payments made in the UK last year; debit cards enjoyed widespread popularity across every age group. As with mobile payments, debit card volumes also trended toward higher numbers of smaller payments due to retail card spending by UK consumers.

Credit cards, on the other hand, may still be experiencing deferred expenditure trends originating from the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw people purchase big-ticket items such as home renovations or summer holidays that they couldn’t buy during the pandemic.

This shift toward mobile payments is also likely to be unfolding in other markets, such as the jurisdictions where entities such as FingerMotion Inc. (NASDAQ: FNGR) have operations.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to FingerMotion Inc. (NASDAQ: FNGR) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/FNGR

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