Retailers are set to see a changing payment landscape with mobile transactions set to surge over the next five years

In a report conducted by Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) and commissioned by PayPoint, it projected that the number of non-card non-cash payments such as mobile payments, PayPal, coupons and cheques will more than double from 9.3% today to 19.6% by 2019.

The report identified mobile payment, the ability to purchase goods and services using a smartphone, as a “strong growth area over the coming years while cheques are in decline and are likely to be phased out soon”.

The debit card was also identified as the UK’s most preferred method of payment (48%) while just 23% said they preferred cash. The report estimated that the volume of cash payments in the UK will drop from 52% in 2013 to 43% in 2019.

According to CEBR’s managing economist Scott Corfe, even though these newer methods of payments will become more popular, consumers will not stick to just one type.

“The payment landscape will be much more varied by 2019 than it is now with a new set of payment systems becoming more popular but cash, credit and debit cards are still going to be important,” he said. “People are going to be using different payment methods for different reasons rather than just one.”

The survey also examined the deciding factors in people choosing how to pay with 55.5% seeing security as the most important factor, followed by ease of making the payment (25.7%).

Corfe said this was down to “people wanting convenience as well as security” in their payment methods.