Cash is still king in the UK

With news that the UK has entered its deepest recession in recent history, Rapyd, the world’s largest local payments network, has conducted a survey to analyse the impact on consumer spending habits. Compared to results of the same survey in the US which showed 60% of consumers want to shift over to a cashless society, 70% of consumers in the UK still believe cash is king in the current economy.

Findings include:

• 70% of those surveyed believe that cash still plays an important role
• Less than half of those are worried to handle cash due to possible Covid infections
• Even during this pandemic while most retailers are encouraging the use of credit and debit cards, 18% are using cash daily
• Over half of those surveyed feel this recession is going to have a greater impact on their lives than 2007
• 43% of 18-24 years old feel confident in the economy, while almost 70% of those aged over 54 have no confidence in the economy at all
• 73% of the nation will be postponing big spends this year including holidays, home extensions, house moves and new cars
• The good news is almost 60% of those surveyed have savings to make it through a recession with the average amount under £5k

Survey of 1,000 UK respondents August 14th 2020