Cash, ATM and bank branch use dips as virus transforms how we pay

The COVID-19 pandemic is speeding up deep-seated shifts in how people do their banking, with the use of cash, ATMs and bank branches all in sharp decline as digital and mobile payments come to the fore.

Cash-free shops are becoming increasingly common in the new age as retailers try to limit the possible spread of the coronavirus from banknotes.

Even paying with a plastic debit or credit card can risk spreading the virus, if it involves using your finger to key in a personal identification number (PIN).

This month, banks and card companies doubled to $200 the amount you can pay with a contactless card, without entering a PIN, for a three-month period.

Some of these changes — such as cashless shops — may prove temporary. However, that is unlikely to be true for the broad shifts in how we do our banking, with experts and bankers believing customers’ money habits are likely to change forever.

Payments consultancy The Initiatives Group says in a recent paper that use of cash and ATMs will fall into a “steep decline” as a result of the pandemic, as contactless and mobile payments rise.

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Source: Cash, ATM and bank branch use dips as virus transforms how we pay