BOE's Victoria Cleland: UK Pound Usage Grows | PYMNTS.com

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Bank of England’s (BOE) Chief Cashier Victoria Cleland adamantly stating that “cash is not in decline.”

Cleland made the remarks at the Future of Cash Conference in Vienna, Austria, on Oct. 5, continuing the argument that, despite the fact that non-cash purchases and transactions are on the rise in the U.K., the amount of currency being circulated in England’s economy is also increasing.

“Very notable in the U.K. is the rise in the use of contactless cards, which tripled in 2016, accounting for 7 percent of payments. The shift in consumer preferences is also evident in online spending, where average weekly online shopping in the U.K. was £1.1 billion in August 2017; an increase of 16 percent compared with August 2016. Such developments have led many commentators to predict the demise of cash,” she said.

“But the numbers show a different story,” Cleland continued. “In 2016, the value of Bank of England notes in circulation increased by 10 percent, reaching over £70 billion in the run-up to Christmas: the fastest growth in a decade. Cash remains the most widely used payment method in the U.K. It accounted for 40 percent of all payments and 44 percent of payments made by consumers in 2016.”  

From BOE's Victoria Cleland: UK Pound Usage Grows | PYMNTS.com

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