Expect only 'negligible' shift from cash to mobile payments in next five years, says trade body

The trade body said that research it commissioned showed that any shift away from cash payments to mobile payments in the next five years would be "negligible".

Should mobile payments increase in popularity in that time then it will do so because consumers will proportionally reduce the payments they make via other electronic means, ATMIA said. This might mean a reduction in the volume of payments made using credit or debit cards, for example, it said.

"Cash use is more robust and mobile payments less stellar in growth than current conventional wisdom might suggest," Mike Lee, ATMIA chief executive, said.

The rise of technology's influence in financial services was highlighted by separate news from peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform Zopa. It announced that the value of P2P loans it has facilitated has now surpassed £1 billion. It said it saw a 122% rise in the value of loan deals struck on Zopa in July this year compared to July 2014. Loans worth more than £52 million were concluded this July in contrast to loans worth £23.5m in the same month last year, it said.

Zopa, which has partnerships with Metro Bank and Uber, said it now owns a 2% share of the unsecured personal loans market in the UK and that it has further expansion plans.

"Zopa is a trusted service for over 200,000 people who are looking to borrow or grow their money," Giles Andrews, Zopa chief executive and co-founder, said. "We’re delighted to have lent over £1billion and will continue to deliver the best service across consumer finance as we aim to lend our next £1 billion in 2016."