Are high prices driving changes in how people pay? The answer might be yes, according to new data. The number of cash payments rose last year for the first time in a decade, increasing 7% to 6.4bn, even as businesses increasingly went card-only. Banking bodyUK Finance attributes this to people using cash as a way to manage their budget amid growing fears about inflation. On the other hand, buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) – which allows online shoppers to split purchases into instalments – is also on the rise. According to the Money and Pensions Service, about two million Brits are using BNPL to pay for essentials like groceries and bills as inflation squeezes many households' budgets.
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