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According to research, 20 per cent of UK adults never carry cash

Posted: 22 November 2018 | | No comments yet

Recent research found that 47 per cent of adults would be more willing to use buses if contactless payments were always accepted.

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Researchers commissioned by First Bus, who polled 2,000 UK adults, have found that many passengers are now opting to pay using different methods – with contactless, chip and pin and smartphone payments among the most popular.

Half of the surveyed believe cash is on the way out and will soon be superseded by the alternative payment methods and three quarters expect all retailers to accept cash payment alternatives.

The study found 44 per cent have been unable to pay for something because only sterling was accepted, including paying the bus fare, paying for parking and paying for tourist attractions.

A spokesperson for First Bus said: “The way people pay for goods and services has evolved, so we needed to ensure our ticketing changed too. The introduction of contactless payments alongside our digital ticketing options means that paying for bus travel is more convenient and simpler than ever before as customers don’t need to worry about having the right change for their bus fare.

“If more customers switched from cash to contactless, or purchased a digital ticket via our mTickets app, then we would be able to offer a quicker and more efficient bus service.”

Of those who don’t tend to carry cash, four in 10 think other payment methods are easier and more convenient to use.

The study revealed one in 10 don’t carry change because they fear they might lose it and a third simply don’t like carrying ‘shrapnel’ around. Eighteen per cent tend to spend more money if they carry cash around and a quarter don’t have time to get to an ATM.

It also emerged that the only cash a fifth of those polled carry around is a pound for the shopping trolley. And further to this, 33 per cent of UK adults are certain Britain will one day be completely cash-free.

A spokesperson for First Bus said: “No longer do customers need to worry about carrying change for the bus as our aim is to encourage our customers to switch to buying tickets in advance of boarding the bus. We are aiming to receive 80 per cent of ticket payments through digital channels by 2021, with the ambition for digital payments to exceed cash payments by spring 2019.”

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