UK leads charge in many fintech areas as e-commerce accounts for $3.5 trillion of worldwide sales, says GlobalData

Following the news that the UK’s cash system is at risk;

Vlad Totia, Payments Analyst at GlobalData, leading data and analytics company, offers his view:

“The UK, and specifically London, has really geared up its tech scene, and the digitization of money has not been left behind. Arguably the global capital for online banking, the UK is leading the charge in many fintech innovation areas. Mobile payments are not something new in the country, with more and more small merchants accepting card and mobile payments.

“The UK ranks number two globally for e-commerce as a percentage of GDP, being second only to China. The British have become very comfortable with taking out their phone or card to pay for even the most mundane daily purchases. At this rate, the UK should transition at the very least to a predominantly cashless society by the mid-2020s.

“The decade ahead is one anticipated to be swept with technological disruption, as we are digitizing every aspect of our day-to-day lives. The way we pay for things makes no exception. E-commerce accounted for $3.5 trillion of worldwide sales in 2019, while smartphones are becoming ubiquitous even in the most underdeveloped countries. Banks are slowly closing down their brick-and-mortar branches in favor of going fully digital, and people in general are tired of waiting for days on end for international transactions to execute.

“All of these developments point towards one question: what is the point of cash anymore? While it can still have its uses, especially between banks, physical money costs a lot to store, transfer and produce. Most coins produced are less valuable than the material used to make them.”

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