Mobile banking and contactless cards continue to grow in popularity



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Nearly half of British adults have used mobile banking in 2018 and one in ten now choose to live almost without money, as people are rapidly adopting a new payment technology, the research revealed.

The annual report of UK Finance, the industry body, highlights the pace of changes in payment methods over the past decade. More and more people have chosen to use phones, tablets and computers to pay for goods and services online, withdrawing money.

In 2016, only 2% of adults were registered to use payment services via their mobile phone. That figure rose to 16% in 2018, as more and more consumers opted for applications such as Google Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.

The use of contactless technology has increased by 31% over the past year, as the popularity of the touch and pay system has led to an increase in the number of debit cards, the UK Department of Finance said. More than two-thirds of the adult population (69%) made a contactless payment last year, up from 63% in 2017, and almost all of the adult population (98%) is now in possession of 39, a debit card.

"More and more customers are now opting for the speed and convenience of paying with their contactless cards, or using mobile banking to check their balances and make transfers when they're on the go," said Stephen. Jones, Managing Director of UK Finance.

The survey combines data collected from more than 250 financial services companies represented by UK Finance, as well as the results of its survey of thousands of consumers on their payment habits.

Cash was surpbaded by debit cards in last year's figures as the most common payment method, but it remains the second most popular form in the latest numbers. However, more and more people are living virtually without money, that is, using tickets and coins for payment once a month or less frequently.

The number of adults living almost without money rose from 2.9 million in 2016 to 5.4 million in 2018. Young people are in the lead, with 17% of young people aged 25 to 34 almost without money, but a large proportion of the groups are also turning away notes and coins, 7% of people over 65 being without money. The number of cash payments decreased by 16% in 2018.

Some campaign groups have raised concerns that declining cash use is not a choice issue for many, but that it is caused by the loss of ATMs across the entire network. British banking. Figures from the UK Department of Finance suggest that cash-flow reduction has been going on for more than a decade, before the recent large losses by ATMs.

The number of those who use mainly cash has declined, but has recorded a relatively small decline compared to the increase of those who opt for cash-free money: 1.9 million people mainly used cash in cash. 2018, down from 2.7 million in 2016. groups, who may not have access to a bank account or other form of payment technology.

The report also forecasts the future of payment methods over the next decade. Cash will no longer be in fashion, but it is likely that it will still be one in 10 payments in 2028, up from 28% in 2018. Ten years ago, 60% of all payments were made in cash.

The proliferation of new types of payment methods has raised security concerns. According to previous UK Finance data, criminals stole £ 1.2 billion in 2018, compared to £ 967 million in 2017. This includes an increase in the number of fraudsters illegally accessing accounts and customer cards.

Complaints about bank scams reached a record high in the past year, according to May figures released by the Financial Ombudsman Service of the United Kingdom.

Customer complaints about financial fraud in 2018-2019 have increased 40% over the previous year, said FOS. The growing proportion of what is called "forced payment fraud", where customers are cheated by authorizing online money transfers, has led banks to introduce a voluntary code last week aimed at strengthen victim compensation.

Some payment methods are less vulnerable to stealing large sums of money. Contactless cards, for example, allow buyers to spend up to £ 30 per transaction.

The growth of mobile payments, however, underscored the previous warnings of technology experts regarding "man-in-the-middle" attacks, revealing loopholes in mobile apps that could have allowed criminals to steal sensitive customer data. .

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