UK Payment Markets 2026 (Summary) (UK Finance)

Summary

• 49.7 billion payments were made in the UK in 2025.p.3
• Debit cards were the most used payment method with 26.6 billion payments, more than half of all payments.p.3
• Contactless debit and credit card payment volumes totalled 19.2 billion.p.3
• Cash payments fell to 3.9 billion, or 8% of all payments.p.3
• Faster Payments and other remote banking totalled 6.2 billion payments and are the second most used payment method.p.3
• 91% of UK adults used at least one form of remote banking in 2025, with 75% using mobile banking.p.3
• By 2035 debit cards are expected to reach 29.5 billion payments and card payments to be 65% of all payments.p.3

Key insights

1. Around 37.6 million consumers were registered for a mobile wallet and 58% used mobile payments at least once a month.p.8
2. Online card spending grew by 4% in volume and 1% in value, with 45.9 million adults buying online.p.4
3. There were 5.3 billion credit card payments in 2025 and 56% of UK adults held a credit or charge card.p.7
4. Faster Payments and other remote banking payments increased by 10% to 6.2 billion.p.10
5. CHAPS processed 53.3 million payments worth £93.9 trillion in 2025.p.11
6. 23% of business payments were made via Bacs Direct Credit in 2025, compared with 56% in 2015.p.11
7. Cheque use fell by 16% to 77 million cheques.p.11
8. 42% of Buy Now Pay Later users used the service monthly or more often, compared with 33% in 2024.p.9
9. Contactless payments are expected to reach 26 billion transactions, or 41% of all payments, by 2035.p.3
10. Consumers made 41.6 billion payments in 2025, against 8.1 billion by businesses.p.6