The Co-operative says it expects cash and traditional chip and pin card payments to ‘die out’, as mobile and contactless card payment grow in popularity.

A report on consumer behaviour and shopping trends issued by The Co-operative identified a sharp rise in alternative payment methods. Contactless card transactions rose by one million to 11 million in the month to the middle of April, up 15% compared to the same time last year.

The report also predicts that 65% of all transactions will be made through mobile phones by 2025.

Cheryl Marshall, retail chief information officer at The Co-op Food, said: “We’ve seen incredible growth in contactless and mobiles are ringing the changes. The new technology is perfect for convenience stores as shoppers buy fewer items and speed is important to them. Cash still leads the way, attributed to 65% of transactions; however we predict that by 2025 mobile payments to overtake both cards and cash.”

However, a Co-op survey of 2,000 shoppers showed that some customers were reluctant to use contactless cards if the spend was over £10. The average basket spend for contactless in c-stores is £8.66 compared with an average of £18.16 when using chip and pin.