Mobile wallets used by 65% of UK adults

Mobile wallet registrations in the UK rose to 65% of adults in 2025, up from 57% in 2024, according to figures published by UK Finance. The rise coincides with growing use of contactless payments and a continued fall in cash use.

Total payment volumes in the UK reached 49.7 billion transactions in 2025, a 2% increase on the year before. Card payments made up 64% of all transactions, with debit cards accounting for more than half of payments. Contactless transactions, whether made with a physical card or a mobile device, grew 2% to 19.2 billion and represented 39% of all payments; in 2015 contactless accounted for about 3% of transactions.

UK Finance found that people who register for mobile wallets tend to use them frequently, and that mobile contactless is increasingly taking the place of card-based contactless transactions. Registration rates differed by age group: 89% of 25-34-year-olds were registered with at least one mobile payment service in 2025, while 29% of adults aged over 65 were registered.

Cash payments fell to 3.9 billion in 2025 from 4.3 billion the previous year. Cash accounted for 8% of all payments in 2025, down from 9% in 2024 and from 45% in 2015. UK Finance reported that about one in three adults now use cash once a month or less.

Remote banking use increased in 2025. Some 91% of UK adults used at least one form of online, mobile or telephone banking, up from 88% in 2024. Account-to-account payments processed via Faster Payments and other remote banking channels reached 6.2 billion transactions in 2025, making them the second most used payment method after debit cards; volumes in these channels rose 10% year on year, driven particularly by business activity.

Adrian Buckle, head of research at UK Finance, noted: “Trends of the past decade are becoming established. Cash use is declining and growth across many payment methods is stabilising as the market matures. New payment technologies could change how people and businesses move money, and close engagement between government, regulators and industry will be needed to realise that potential.”

UK Finance’s figures for 2025 show higher mobile wallet registrations, rising contactless and remote banking volumes, and a continued reduction in cash transactions.