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News in-depth: Britain 'to be cashless society by 2016'
25 Nov 2011

A new report suggests that Britain will be largely a cashless society by the year 2016, with contactless smart card technology widespread in shops and other locations.

The document, compiled by Forrester, states that children born today will be the first cashless generation, open to paying for goods and services with a mobile wallet as a matter of course.

It was compiled by speaking to senior executives from UK companies, with nine out of ten saying they think a "digital switchover" will take place in four years' time.

However, half of the respondents said the changes could occur within three years as people begin to realise the benefits such technology can offer them.

"We'll see a huge change over the next few years in the way we shop and pay for things," said Carl Scheible from PayPal, the company for which the study was done.

"By 2016, you'll be able to leave your wallet at home and use your mobile as a 21st century digital wallet."

However, it was reported that cash, cards and cheques will still be around to complement contactless payments.

Orange and Barclaycard are both currently offering customers the chance to use near field communication technology to pay for things on their mobiles or credit cards.

Meanwhile, Coca-Cola is also in talks to introduce cashless vending machines to London in time for the start of the Olympic Games in 2012, Marketing magazine reported recently.

However, consumers will not be restricted to using the technology when out and about, as Intel has announced that it is pairing up with MasterCard to add near field communication to some of its new laptops.

Online shoppers will be able to swipe a card in front of a reader to pay for purchases, rather than having to fill in pages of details to verify their details the original way.