4 July 2025
by Payments Intelligence
In a market where margins are tight, and customer expectations are evolving rapidly, understanding how people want to pay is no longer just a customer service consideration—it’s a commercial necessity. The 2025 Consumer Behaviour Report from The Payments Association paints a detailed picture of the UK payments landscape, and for merchants, it offers more than just data: it delivers insight into what’s shaping consumer choice, and what that means for your bottom line.
Despite years of digital acceleration, cash remains a weekly fixture for nearly 40% of consumers, rising to over 50% in regions like Northern Ireland. Its continued relevance is particularly striking among older consumers, lower-income groups, and the economically inactive. This is not just a question of habit—it’s about accessibility, trust, and control.
For merchants, especially those in physical retail, hospitality, transport or local services, removing cash may seem like an efficiency play. But the data shows that doing so could inadvertently exclude a meaningful portion of your customer base—and potentially attract regulatory scrutiny under the FCA’s Consumer Duty to ensure inclusive access to financial services.
While cash retains its grip, mobile wallet adoption is accelerating, especially among younger consumers and households with children. A full 30% of 18–24-year-olds now prefer mobile wallets for everyday spending, and among full-time students that number climbs to 38%. Households with three or more children also show a strong preference for mobile-first payments.
Merchants operating online or across omnichannel environments should see this as a call to act. Enabling digital wallets at checkout is no longer optional—it’s a competitive advantage. But critically, this must be done without compromising on security or usability, two areas that still weigh heavily on the minds of consumers when choosing how to pay.
One of the most compelling findings in the report is how security consistently outranks convenience and rewards, particularly for larger purchases. This sentiment cuts across age, class, and region. For merchants, this is a vital cue: fraud protection and payment authentication need to be more visible in the customer journey.
Whether online or in-store, building trust into the checkout experience—through clear refund policies, secure authentication, and transparent communication—can reduce cart abandonment and build long-term loyalty.
The report also reminds us that the UK is far from homogenous when it comes to payments. For example:
This is critical context for national and regional brands alike. A one-size-fits-all checkout strategy is no longer viable. Merchants need the ability to localise, personalise, and adapt.
The takeaway? UK consumer payment behaviour in 2025 is fractured, fluid, and deeply shaped by age, income, and trust. As a merchant, you’re not just selling a product—you’re selling an experience. And if that experience doesn’t reflect how people want to pay, you’re leaving revenue on the table.
→ Want to dive deeper into what your customers expect in 2025? Read the full Consumer Behaviour Report below to explore the insights shaping tomorrow’s checkout experience.
From cash to contactless, UK consumers are more fragmented than ever. Here’s what it means for your checkout strategy.
Explore how acquirers and PSPs can align with evolving 2025 consumer payment trends by balancing innovation, inclusion, and trust.
A 2025 survey of UK retailers reveals how payment challenges and innovation priorities are shaping merchant strategies across the sector.
The Payments Association
St Clement’s House
27 Clements Lane
London EC4N 7AE
© Copyright 2024 The Payments Association. All Rights Reserved. The Payments Association is the trading name of Emerging Payments Ventures Limited.
Emerging Ventures Limited t/a The Payments Association; Registered in England and Wales, Company Number 06672728; VAT no. 938829859; Registered office address St. Clement’s House, 27 Clements Lane, London, England, EC4N 7AE.
Log in to access complimentary passes or discounts and access exclusive content as part of your membership. An auto-login link will be sent directly to your email.
We use an auto-login link to ensure optimum security for your members hub. Simply enter your professional work e-mail address into the input area and you’ll receive a link to directly access your account.
Instead of using passwords, we e-mail you a link to log in to the site. This allows us to automatically verify you and apply member benefits based on your e-mail domain name.
Please click the button below which relates to the issue you’re having.
Sometimes our e-mails end up in spam. Make sure to check your spam folder for e-mails from The Payments Association
Most modern e-mail clients now separate e-mails into different tabs. For example, Outlook has an “Other” tab, and Gmail has tabs for different types of e-mails, such as promotional.
For security reasons the link will expire after 60 minutes. Try submitting the login form again and wait a few seconds for the e-mail to arrive.
The link will only work one time – once it’s been clicked, the link won’t log you in again. Instead, you’ll need to go back to the login screen and generate a new link.
Make sure you’re clicking the link on the most recent e-mail that’s been sent to you. We recommend deleting the e-mail once you’ve clicked the link.
Some security systems will automatically click on links in e-mails to check for phishing, malware, viruses and other malicious threats. If these have been clicked, it won’t work when you try to click on the link.
For security reasons, e-mail address changes can only be complete by your Member Engagement Manager. Please contact the team directly for further help.
