A STUDY has revealed the UK’s most card-reliant regions and the South West has come third.

The research by Vanquis Bank revealed which areas of the UK are most card-reliant, offering insights into how consumer habits are changing in a landscape of declining cash usage.

The South West has ranked third, behind the East of England and the South East of England respectively.

Vanquis collected and analysed several data points, including: the percentage of unbanked adults; number of adults who own a credit card; the average number of credit cards per person; how many available ATMs there are; the percentage change in ATM availability and the average monthly searches for ATMs.

The research found that two percent of the population of the South West remain unbanked, with 67 percent of adults owning a credit card.

The region has the lowest ATM availability nationwide, with 6.3 machines per 10,000 residents, a 27 percent decrease in this number over the past five years.

Vanquis say this is further proof of the area’s growing preference for cashless payments.

The full study is available here.