Mind the Mobility Payments Gap:

Mobility in the UK is becoming increasingly digital, self-service and always on. From EV charging and parking to rail and micro mobility, consumers expect journeys to flow seamlessly without human interaction. Payments are the invisible layer enabling this and when they fail, the journey fails with them.

Our latest consumer research into UK mobility payments has revealed a stark truth: while infrastructure availability has improved, the real-world payment experience still falls short. The result is a growing “mobility payments gap” between what modern transport promises and what payments reliably deliver.

On the surface, the UK looks well equipped, with nearly three quarters of consumers say their local area is set up for payments on the go. Yet almost half have experienced travel disruption due to unattended payment failures.

This tension could help to explain a surprising finding: cash remains the second most preferred payment method for mobility, particularly outside major cities. This isn’t nostalgia – it’s risk management. Cash is trusted as a fallback when digital systems feel unreliable, especially in rural and semi-rural areas where connectivity and infrastructure gaps are more pronounced.

For the payments industry, the implication is clear: consumer resistance isn’t about innovation fatigue, it’s about confidence. People will adopt new payment models – but only when it works, everywhere, every time.

The full report explores what’s disrupting the consumer journey, regional disparities, security concerns for unattended payments, the rise of the EV mini-economy and the future of Mobility Payments.

To understand what this means for acquirers, merchants and mobility operators and why collaboration across the ecosystem will be essential to closing the mobility payments gap – download the full report.