Cash payments plummet

Coins and notes will be used in less than half of all transactions within five years after payments made by cash slumped from 73 per cent to 59 per cent over the past decade.

The Payments Council said cash was "king no more" after a study of payment trends between 1999 and 2009 found debit card spending was now the most popular - quadrupling to £264 billion last year.

Debit card payments are even dwarfing credit card usage, while the cheque continued its decline and at a faster pace than expected.

The council said it predicted in 1999 that just over one billion cheques would be used by individuals in 2009, but the figure in fact fell to 577 million.

The last decade also saw internet banking put firmly on the map.

Ten years ago, online banking did not exist, but there are now 22 million UK adults operating their accounts over the web. Seven out of ten younger users bank online, although only a third of over 65s use internet banking.