UK Merchants See Growing Demand for Crypto Payments Amidst Security Concerns

A new report from payment technology provider DECTA has revealed that one in five top UK SMEs is seeing growing demand for cryptocurrency payments, despite security and payment simplicity remaining their top priorities.

The survey of 500 UK SME decision-makers found that 11.8% of merchants believe their customers want the option to pay with cryptocurrency, while this figure rises to 20.7% among businesses with annual turnover between £50 million and £99.99 million.

Crypto ranked eighth on the list of customer payment priorities, behind security at 48.6%, simplicity at 42.2%, speed at 37.2%, multiple payment options, refunds, guest checkout, Buy Now Pay Later, and open banking.

Scott Dawson, chief executive officer of DECTA, noted that alternative payment methods continue to gain traction among merchants, with BNPL emerging as a top customer priority for nearly 20% of respondents, while open banking and cryptocurrency attracted greater interest among larger businesses.