Digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay have had a huge impact on the adoption of digital payments, but despite the uptake in digital alternatives, ad-enabled payments firm, Zilch, has revealed British shoppers will not part ways from physical payment cards.
Digital wallets do bring about a lot of convenience – having everything at the click of a button, and knowing payments are being made with biometric security can be reassuring for shoppers. Some even forgo even leaving the house with a physical wallet. However, there are risks associated with having everything on a phone. If the battery dies, or the phone is lost or stolen, shoppers will find themselves without a way to pay.
As a result, even the youngest shoppers are still relying on credit and debit cards. The report found that 52 per cent of Gen Z consumers carry physical cards – which were first used in the UK in the 1960s – every day. Almost two-thirds of them (63 per cent) refuse to rely on digital payments alone, thinking it’s very important to have either cards or cash as a backup. Older shoppers are even more committed to cards, with more than three quarters of baby boomers (77 per cent) carrying physical cards every day.
The report found that 66 per cent of consumers insist on carrying physical cards every day, rather than relying on their phones to make payments. A mere one per cent say they never carry a credit or debit card.
Zilch launches its own physical payment option
One in seven UK working adults are already Zilch customers, with a virtual payment card stored in the Zilch app or their mobile wallets. To date, Zilch has processed over £4billion of purchases – both online and in-store. Building on this success, Zilch has announced that it will launch its first-ever physical payments card as part of a wider strategic multi-year partnership with Visa, a global digital payments firm.
The new physical card will function just like Zilch’s virtual payment card, allowing customers to earn rewards and enjoy flexible repayment options with just a tap at the checkout. It will be available in different shades of the brand’s distinctive bright green.
Joe Zender, chief product officer at Zilch
Zilch’s new physical card will be available to existing customers from September 2025. The card will work securely and seamlessly across Visa’s extensive global network that reaches over 150 million merchant locations in 200+ countries and territories.
Joe Zender, chief product officer at Zilch, commented: “Digital payments have been transformational for shoppers, but consumers of every generation are holding onto their physical cards. People still love to know they can buy what they need even if their phone’s battery runs flat. That’s why we’re giving people the option of having a new physical card, so they can get the full benefit of using Zilch whichever way they pay.”
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