08-20-2026 
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Debit cards remain the United Kingdom’s most frequently used payment method. Meanwhile, 91% of adults used at least one form of remote banking in 2025, and mobile contactless payment services such as Apple Pay and Google Pay continue to grow in popularity, according to a report by UK Finance.
On Wednesday, banking trade body UK Finance published its annual report examining trends in the U.K. payment market in detail, with the latest edition focusing on 2025 and forecasting through 2035.
It outlined how the long-term decline of cash has continued, although the pace of change has slowed, and while debit cards continue to dominate, their growth is starting to level off, in contrast to the continued and more notable rise in mobile wallet use.
“Within almost 50 billion payments made during 2025, debit cards remained the U.K.’s most frequently used payment method. However, after years of sustained growth, debit card use appears to be reaching a natural plateau as consumer adoption matures,” said Jana Mackintosh, Managing Director of Payments and Innovation at UK Finance. “New technologies and payment models, including digital wallets and digital forms of money such as tokenized deposits and regulated stablecoins, have the potential to expand consumer choice and enable new payment experiences.”
She added that, “as these capabilities develop, they are likely to influence not only how consumers pay, but also will drive adoption and renew growth in payments going forward.”
According to the report, in 2025, approximately 37.6 million consumers, more than six in 10 in the U.K.’s adult population, were registered to use at least one mobile wallet service, and 58% used mobile payments to purchase goods or services at least once a month.
This trend is supported by other data, including a recent report from “big four” accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) looking into trends in retail payments, which suggested that digital wallets are becoming the preferred payment method for many consumers, growing at a ~20% per annum rate globally, mainly fueled by the likes of Apple and Google Pay.
“This trend is expected to continue with digital wallets reaching a 21% share of U.K. transaction volume in 2026,” PwC said.
Meanwhile, LINK, the U.K.’s cash machine network, published research last September showing that only 48% of U.K. adults, based on a “nationally representative” online survey of 2,077 consumers, own a physical wallet or purse that they consider essential to their day-to-day lives; a number which fell to 38% for the 18-24 age group.
To make the most of the growing prominence of digital wallets and other financial innovations, UK Finance argued that continued close engagement between government, regulators, and industry “will be essential to unlock pace and change, and provide the clarity and certainty needed to unlock investment that will ensure the U.K. retains its position at the forefront of payments.”
The outlook was somewhat less optimistic for cash, with the report finding that, while it remains important—accounting for 3.9 billion payments, or 8% of all payments—its long-term decline continued, if at a slower pace. The report predicted that by 2035, it would account for only 4% of all payments made in the U.K., or 2 billion transactions.
Despite cash payments declining, cash machines continued to play a dominant role in access to cash, with 49.3 million people using one in 2025, and UK Finance suggesting that many consumers who prefer to use cash continue to value it for certain types of transactions.
For this reason, Mackintosh argued that maintaining appropriate access to cash, even as digital wallet use surges with younger generations, remains an important priority, “ensuring that consumers retain choice and that no one is left behind as payment preferences continue to evolve.”
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