The new £5 note was launched today, featuring Winston Churchill in place of the Queen and a new durable polymer instead of paper.
Over 440 million of the new notes have been printed and more polymer notes including a £10 note featuring Jane Austin, are set for the next few years.
However, a new study from Worldpay has found that a third of shoppers believe cash will be obsolete by 2020, when a JMW Turner £20 note is due for distribution.
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A quarter of consumers claim they avoid shops which don‘t take cards, and 30 per cent say they only use cash when it absolutely necessary.
The statistics have been found to support consumer‘s predictions that cash will be obsolete within the foreseeable future.
Consumers are using contactless payments increasingly, with 33 per cent of Londoners claiming they use it at least once a day and 40 per cent from other regions claiming they use it more than once a week.
Younger shoppers are also moving away from cash at an increasing rate, with 67 per cent 16 – 34 year olds leaving their wallets at home and relying on Apple Pay and Android Pay.
Fifty-four per cent of consumers across all age groups predict smartphones to replace cards in the next five years.
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“The shift that we are seeing in terms of consumer preferences and what shoppers now expect from the high street is seismic and paying with cash is an inconvenience for many of today‘s shoppers,” James Frost, Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer at Worldpay said.
“Whilst online stores have tended to changing expectations and delivered simplicity and flexibility through technology, physical stores are at risk of falling behind. From contactless busses to Waitrose‘s first cashless store, the growing popularity of tap and go is a trend that all retailers will need to embrace or risk losing relevance.”
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