Regional UK Cash Preferences Revealed

A survey of UK consumers has revealed wide variation in payment habits across the nation, with people in Wales and North West England preferring cash to other options, and Brits nationwide most likely to reach for notes and coins in cafés and bars.

Business Comparison surveyed 2,000 British adults earlier this year, exploring their payment habits and what drove their preference. 62 percent of Welsh respondents and 51 percent of those in North West England had used cash within the past week, with Scotland the next-highest cash users at 48 percent and the West Midlands at 46 percent. The lowest cash use was found in the South East, in which just 35 percent of respondents had used cash within the past week and seven percent said it had likely been over a year since their last cash purchase. Overall, 44 percent of Brits had paid with banknotes and coins in the past week, with just one percent saying it had been a year or more since they had used cash.

Café’s, bars and delis were the most popular venues to use cash, followed by restaurants and charity shops, markets and salons, then pubs.

The leading reasons for using cash were a small transaction amount and simply having notes and coins handy. 17 percent of respondents said they prefer cash in general and 12 percent said that the business they were at was cash-only. Seven percent said the last time they used cash was due to a business having technical issues that meant cashless options were unavailable.

In addition to highlighting the varying priorities of different regions when it comes to payment decisions, the research also serves as a reminder of the importance of having cash available so transactions can take place on occasions when cashless options fail, whether due to a local and temporary fault affecting just a handful of facilities, or a major emergency causing longer term regional or even nationwide power and internet outages.