Digital payments take centre stage
Preferred payment method
Consumer payment habits continue to shift towards digital methods, with contactless cards and mobile wallets now leading everyday spending. However, consumers continue to rely on a range of payment options, reflecting the importance of choice
Digital payments Continue to reshape everyday consumer spending
Consumer payment preferences continue to evolve as digital methods become increasingly embedded in everyday life. Contactless debit cards and mobile wallets now lead in-person spending, reflecting growing demand for convenience, speed and seamless payment experiences. While digital adoption continues to accelerate, consumers have not converged around a single payment method. Instead, the findings reveal a diverse payments landscape in which different methods serve different needs, occasions and preferences. Traditional options such as cash, credit cards and chip-and-PIN transactions remain relevant, highlighting the importance of flexibility and consumer choice. Together, these results illustrate how payment behaviour is being shaped by a combination of convenience, accessibility and trust, rather than by technology alone.
Findings
Key statistic
Consumers primarily use either contactless debit cards or mobile wallets for everyday purchases.
Digital payment methods now account for the majority of consumers’ preferred payment choices, highlighting the continued shift towards faster and more convenient payment experiences.
Key insight
London leads mobile wallet adoption
Regional analysis reveals broad acceptance of digital payments across the UK, although adoption rates vary between regions. London demonstrates particularly strong mobile wallet usage, reflecting higher levels of digital engagement and smartphone-based payments.
Outside the capital, contactless debit cards remain the dominant choice for many consumers, while cash continues to play a more significant role in some regions. These findings suggest that payment innovation is spreading nationally, albeit at different rates.
TPA member insights
Expert perspectives on the findings and their implications.
Vijay Ray, Associate Director, RSM UK Consulting
"Mobile wallets now match contactless debit cards as the most-used payment method, and with 46% of 18-to 24-year-olds already habitual users, a generational shift is well underway that will reshape the mainstream. Yet the most compelling signal sits alongside it: when consumers decide how to pay, security outranks everything else: rewards, convenience, even familiarity. For an industry that rightly celebrates its breadth of innovation, that is a timely reminder. Differentiation matters, but it operates within a hierarchy. The payments community must ensure that trust is not assumed. It needs to be demonstrated, communicated, and continuously earned."
Karen Allan, Partner and Head of FinTech, HaysMac
“The continued shift to digital payment is being driven by younger consumers, although adoption is broadening across all age groups. Mobile wallets are now the second most-used payment method, tied with debit cards. For consumers, security and buyer protection are top of mind, which is unsurprising given a fifth of respondents fell victim to fraud in the past year. UK Finance's 2025 data highlights over £1bn of losses and c. 3.3m cases in 2024, underlining both the scale of the issue and the importance of maintaining consumer trust as payment methods evolve.”
Vrush Sumanoharan, Product marketing manager, Edenred Payment Solutions
“Consumers are increasingly adopting mobile wallets for both in-store and online purchases, and the industry’s shift towards mandatory digital-first activation will accelerate that trend. Mastercard’s ambition to eliminate manual card entry by 2030, alongside new methods such as click-to-pay, is simplifying checkout and reducing friction. These innovations are closely tied to security: tokenisation will be central to preventing card fraud and safeguarding sensitive card data as digital payments scale. Businesses that prioritise the user journey and provide a seamless process for enrolling payment cards in mobile wallets will drive faster adoption and greater usage.”