The rise of contactless and mobile payments means cash will soon no longer be king, experts are forecasting.
The Payments Council is predicting that 2015 will see the number of payments using notes and coins be outnumbered by non-cash transactions for the very first time.
It is expecting to see 700 million more non-cash transactions this year than there were in 2014, taking the 2015 total to just under 20 billion.
Over the same 12-month period, the UK's payments body is forecasting 19 billion cash payments, 400 million less than last year, meaning they are likely to be outstripped by cashless ones for the first time.
Transactions made without cash include those made with cheques, debit and credit cards and contactless payments, as well as mobile payments, direct debits and standing orders.
The Payments Council has been forecasting that 2015 will be a tipping point for cash payments for a number of years.
Copyright Press Association 2015