Why contactless payments are ruining your finances

Independent

30-03-2025

'It's just so easy to spend and it's crippling me,' a client said to me earlier this month.
It's a conversation I've had plenty this year with a number of people who are struggling to achieve their bigger financial goals because they're relying on willpower to curb their spending.
The current frictionless payments landscape, from 1-Click to Apple and Google Pay to Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) schemes, means it's never been easier to be parted from your money.
We live in a world where you can leave your house without cash or a card and still spend. It's a retailer's dream, but for many people – especially those who describe themselves as compulsive buyers or having a shopping addiction – it's a nightmare.
Friction is your friend
If you're someone who struggles with overspending or problem spending, friction is your friend.
Yes, I'm a money coach. No, I'm not anti-spending. I'm pro spending money you can afford on the things that matter to you and enjoying every purchase without guilt, shame or regret.
But if you struggle with overspending or problem spending, the onus isn't on you to learn how to 'be better' with credit cards, BNPL, with 1-Click shopping. Rather, the frictionless payments landscape, with its low barrier to spending, isn't serving you. It's not you, it's them.
So how about you close the accounts, cut up the cards, remove the payment details from shopping websites, break up with BNPL, take the payment options off your phone and laptop, and make a plan to pay off whatever's outstanding? None of this makes you a failure.
This is your permission slip to remove the tools available at your fingertips which facilitate spending money you don't have or can't afford or simply don't want to spend.
Contorting our bodies
I read something recently about clothes and bodies. About how weird it is that it's normal to buy clothes that don't fit, and instead of accepting that the clothes are the problem, we try and contort our bodies to fit the items.
'If I could just trim this bit off my thigh, hold my belly in just so and walk slightly differently so they hang right, then it works!' I thought this as I tried on a pair of jeans this week, and I had to laugh when I realised what I was doing.
'Oh wait… It's not me, it's the jeans! They're right for somebody but not my body. Let me find a pair that works for me.' That's a hell of a lot easier than trying to contort my body.
So, back to spending. It really does help to address what's driving the behaviour that isn't serving you, such as spending money you don't have on 'stuff I don't need and sometimes don't even want,' as many of my coaching clients have said.
Make it easy
But you can do this while also making it easier for yourself not to spend. Remove the tools that are enabling the spending behaviour that's hurting you.
Creating practical, physical barriers to spending helps when willpower runs low and the temptation to spend is high by preventing or at least slowing down your ability to purchase.
Similarly, if you're looking to save, make the behaviour that enables the end goal easier. Automating your savings, for example. You could set up a standing order that transfers money from your bank account to your savings account every payday, for example.
This can also look like setting up the feature on your bank account, which allows customers to round-up transactions and sweep the spare change into a savings pot.
For example, you can set it so that if you've spent £3.76p, the app will round up the transaction to the nearest pound and sweep 24p into a savings pot.
It's not you, it's them
One client forgot she'd set this up and, while doing a spring review of her budget, found her savings pot had almost £250 in it, which gave her a real boost.
If you're paying down debt with a balance transfer – transferring debt from one credit card to another charging low or no interest – make sure to close the old credit card and to lower the limit on your new credit card to match the balance you've transferred so you can't spend on it.
Use the tools that are available to manage your money in the way that works for you – your current self and your future self. But when they're not working for you, move on. It's not you, it's them.