As people turn away from cash during the Covid-19 pandemic, NatWest has seen a significant increase over the last two months in UK businesses moving to accept card payments.
The lender says 70% of businesses registering for its Tyl by NatWest payment service are new to card payments, suggesting that the trend away from accepting cash and coin payments has accelerated as a result of the crisis.
This is in line with global trends that show a 300% increase in online searches for the term ‘contactless payment’ over the last two months, based on data from Google.
Meanwhile, recent data from Link shows ATM withdrawals falling 60% during the lockdown and three quarters of Brits report that their use of paper money is down.
Mike Elliff, CEO, Tyl by NatWest, says: "We know that much of this current trend is driven by necessity related to the current crisis, such as the need to accept contactless payments for hygiene reasons, as well as businesses moving to offer delivery services or accepting orders and payment by phone to reduce physical contact."
With firms flocking to the service, NatWest is waiving terminal fees for Tyl until the end of the year.