Despite the UK's shift towards a cashless society, there has been an unexpected 66% increase in the number of people using notes and coins for daily spending.
The UK Finance Report revealed that while contactless and mobile payments rose, cash payments initially saw a decline after a brief resurgence in 2022. However, the number of people who "mainly use cash" jumped from 900,000 in 2022 to 1.5 million in 2023, the highest since before the pandemic. This rise is attributed to the cost of living crisis, prompting some to manage finances through methods like "cash stuffing," where cash is divided into envelopes for budgeting.
This group includes low-income and well-off individuals of all age groups. UK Finance is monitoring the situation to determine if this is a trend or a statistical anomaly. Meanwhile, the number of people living "largely cashless lives" also increased to 22.1m. The recent global IT outage highlighted the importance of cash as a backup.
In other news, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has been granted new powers by the Government and will implement new regulations from 18 September. These regulations will ensure access to local community cash services such as branches and ATMs.
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