APACS research reveals:

• Plastic cards: Adults in East Anglia are the most likely to hold plastic cards (97 per cent)
• Checking card or bank statements for unfamiliar transactions: West Midlanders are the best at doing this, as 85 per cent admit to always checking their statements - the national average is 82 per cent
• Phone or internet banking: Adults in the North West are most likely to use phone or internet banking (55 per cent), whilst adults in Yorkshire and the Humber and Scotland are least likely to (46 per cent)
• Cash: Adults in the North East make the highest number of cash machine withdrawals (76 annually), but adults in Scotland withdraw the most amount of cash annually (£5,650)
• Cheque usage: More adults in the South West regularly use cheques for spontaneous payments* than in any other region (44% compared to the national average of 37%)

Taking a broad North-South view, payments patterns and trends emerge: Southerners hold more plastic cards (95%) compared to their northern neighbours (92%); Northerners tend to prefer cash, as they make more withdrawals by both volume (14%) and value (17%) and cheque use is higher in the South as 40% of adults regularly use cheques for spontaneous payments, compared to 33% in the North.

Sandra Quinn, director of communications at APACS, says: "With the variety of payment options available to Britons today, it is interesting to see how adults across the country choose to manage their payments. While there are clear nationwide trends like the ongoing growth in the popularity of the internet, there are also parts of the country which stand out in comparison to the national statistics, for example plastic card holding in the North East, which at 86 per cent is almost 10 per cent below the national average.

"Payment Regions offers a fascinating insight into how our payment habits compare with those of our neighbors, and how as a nationn our payment habits evolve to take advantage of new technology and to meet the needs of our ever more demanding lifestyles."