Cash killed by plastic

Credit and debit cards are set to replace traditional coins and notes as Britain's primary monetary source.

17:17 23 November 2004

Credit and debit cards are set to replace traditional coins and notes as Britain's primary monetary source.

By December, the total amount spent using cards will have risen to 269 billion, eclipsing the 268 billion spent using cash, according to new figures.

Banking analyst Dr Tony Gandy revealed almost two-thirds of plastic payments in Britain are now made on debit cards such as Switch and Maestro.

Dr Gandy said: "People now use debit cards to pay for a 2 coffee or a 20,000 car, which is not what debit cards were designed for.

"It is a pretty secure way of paying and means customers and businesses don't have to handle so much cash, which is expensive to transact compared with card payments. That's why supermarkets are keen on cashback," he added.