Do you still rely on cash?

Many of us don’t visit the cashpoint as much as we used to, often preferring instead to use digital and contactless payment options - but cash still has an important role to play in people’s lives.

According to LINK, people aged 16 and over made 832m cash withdrawals in 2025.

That’s 87m less than in 2024.

Meanwhile, the amount being withdrawn fell from £1,424 in 2024 to £1,352 in 2025 - a drop of 5%.

Clearly, more and more of us are relying on alternatives like digital payments on our phone and contactless cards.

Nevertheless, cash is still popular and proving useful.

Cash still ‘essential’ to many

LINK points out that only 48% of adults carry a physical purse or wallet every day.

Despite that,51% say they’ve used cash in the past week.

Cash is also proving to be a useful back-up when technology fails. 

More than six in ten people (61%) say they’ve experienced payment failures, with system outages responsible for a third of cases.

When payments failed, one in five people had to abandon a purchase altogether.

And more than one in ten relied on someone else to pay for them.

But if you have some cash on you, you’re prepared if technology lets you down.

“Millions are comfortable and happy to leave their home relying on their digital wallet on their smartwatch or smartphone,” said Graham Mott, director of strategy at LINK. 

“Even though usage is falling in every part of the UK, cash remains resilient, and essential to millions of people.”

Cash can help with budgeting

Another key benefit of cash is that can help you stay within a budget - and that can be really important if money is tight.

Handing over cash often makes us think twice in a way that tapping a card doesn’t and makes spending feel more “real”.

That psychological connection to physically handling notes and coins can make a big difference and help you see where your money is going.

Get on top of your budget

If you want to prioritise your spending and work out where you can make savings, then we can help you.

We’ve put together a handy guide on creating a budget, along with a free budget planner to get you started.