The survey also showed that a vast majority (80%) prefer to pay cash for items under £10, followed by debit card and finally credit card. Only 3% would opt for contactless.

When asked what the most important barriers to a cashless society were, 21% identified a sentimental attachment to cash as a key obstacle, whereas nearly half of all respondents identified paying for low value items and cash-reliant retailers as being the greatest barriers. Over a third cited security concerns and allowing people with no bank account to pay for goods, while eight percent of shoppers see no barriers at all to a cashless society.

According to The Logic Group, one of the key benefits of contactless payments is reducing queues at checkouts, which is still the most irritating element of the payment process for shoppers with over half (51%) of respondents expressing frustration caused by queues. Other shoppers taking too long to pay comes in a close second, followed by consumers twho are exasperated by self service checkouts taking longer than traditional checkouts.

Mark Kusionowicz, Marketing Director of The Logic Group, comments: “In the UK alone, it’s estimated that consumers make 22 billion cash payments a year, worth a total of £266 billion. However, over 80% of these transactions are for purchases of less than £15. This represents a huge opportunity for an alternative to cash that is faster, more convenient and more secure than notes and coins – and the emergence of contactless offers just this. However, there is clearly some work to be done in the industry to educate consumers not only to the benefits of contactless but also to what a contactless payment actually is. More positive though is that our survey presents a picture of a British public who are less sentimental than anticipated with regard to their attachment to hard cash.”