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The UK Payments Market report, released once a year, shows that debit cards – included those loaded onto phones – were the predominant way to pay last year.

They accounted for 54% of all payments in made in 2025. Some 39% of payments were contactless.

Cheques had been due to be phased out by 2018, until MPs forced a change of heart by the industry years ago.

Instead, they have withered to just 0.2% of payments made in the UK – with a total of 77 million written last year.

Cash is unlikely to go the same way, according to forecasts by UK Finance.

Notes and coins were used in 3.9 billion, or 8%, of all payments last year. This is expected to halve to 4% of all payments in the UK in 2035, or two billion transactions.

However, some people still had a strong preference for using cash.

“Rather than the UK becoming a cash-free society over the next decade, the UK will transition to an economy where cash is less important than it once was but remains widely valued and still preferred by some,” the report said.

Nearly 50 million people used a cash machines last year.

Nick Quin, from Link, which oversees the UK’s ATM network, said: “Cash withdrawals are falling across every part of the country. More people find it convenient and prefer to pay using contactless cards and digital wallets on smartphones, but millions still rely on cash day in, day out.

“People on lower incomes rely more heavily or entirely on cash to budget, which is why our job is to protect access to cash for as long as people need it.”

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Travelers can still score deals this fall, but they may have to work harder to find them as the traditional shoulder season gets squeezed.

Fall travel interest on Vrbo is up 17% from a year ago, while average nightly rates after summer are now just 5% below peak summer prices across the platform’s top destinations, according to new data from the vacation rental platform.

“Shoulder season is this magic time between Labor Day and the holiday travel season when, traditionally, prices have dropped pretty dramatically and crowds have thinned out,” Vrbo Travel Expert Melanie Fish told FOX Business. “Well, summer travel demand is now bleeding over into fall.”

Some of the best savings remain in beach destinations, overseas markets and trips booked for later in the fall.

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Travelers are pictured at Los Angeles International Airport on June 29, 2023. Some of the best savings remain in beach destinations, overseas markets and trips booked for later in the fall. (Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images)

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, tops Vrbo’s list, with vacation rental rates averaging 34% less than during summer. One property cited by the company drops from as much as $1,300 per night in August to about $600 in October.

Other beach markets also offer discounts. Orange Beach, Alabama, offers average savings of 31%, followed by Panama City Beach, Florida, at 24%, Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, at 16%, and Ocean City, Maryland, at 12%, according to Vrbo.

Fish said travelers chasing lower prices should consider swapping destinations or keeping an eye out for last-minute discounts.

BUDGET AIRLINE JETSTAR TO CHARGE PASSENGERS FOR STORING BAGS IN OVERHEAD COMPARTMENTS

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, tops Vrbo’s list, with vacation rental rates averaging 34% less than during summer. (Edwin Remsberg / VWPics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Travelers heading overseas may also have better luck. European vacation rental prices fall an average of about 8% from summer highs during the fall, with larger discounts in destinations including Corfu, Crete, Girona, the Azores and Siena.

Major tourism hubs such as London, Paris, Madrid and Rome tend to hold onto higher prices, leaving fewer shoulder-season bargains.

The squeeze is also showing up in several major U.S. cities. Vrbo said fall rates are rising in Nashville, Boston, Chicago and Miami as demand stays strong beyond summer.

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Travelers walk on a concourse at Chicago O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois on January 15, 2026. Beach markets still offer some of the biggest savings.  (Daniel SLIM / AFP via Getty Images)

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Travelers willing to wait until after the holidays could find the biggest break.

From just after New Year’s through the period before spring break in early 2027, lodging prices are expected to run about 34% below summer peaks, with possible deals in San Diego, Los Angeles and Orlando.

NEW YORK — The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 87.36 points, or 0.16%, to 53,372.42 as of 9:44 a.m. EDT Tuesday, as rising oil prices tied to escalating tensions with Iran weighed on broader market sentiment even as a stronger-than-expected earnings report from Home Depot offered some support to blue-chip stocks.

Tuesday’s modest decline followed a sharper pullback across Wall Street on Monday, when all three major indexes closed lower amid rising crude prices and climbing long-term Treasury yields. The Dow fell 272.63 points, or 0.51%, to close at 53,459.78, while the S&P 500 slid 0.52% to 7,745.06 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.32% to 26,644.91. That pullback came as West Texas Intermediate crude climbed above $83 a barrel and Brent crude moved above $88, with crude prices gaining roughly 3% during Monday’s session alone following the expiration of a 60-day window for the U.S. and Iran to reach a deal aimed at ending their ongoing conflict.

By Tuesday, oil prices had pushed even higher, with crude trading above $90 a barrel as concerns over instability in the Middle East continued to dominate broader market sentiment. According to Yahoo Finance, Middle East conflict concerns combined with the elevated oil prices weighed on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq early Tuesday, with the Nasdaq Composite falling as much as 1.2% in premarket trading, leading declines among the major indexes, while the Dow traded closer to flat.

Home Depot emerged as one of the session’s key earnings stories. The home improvement retailer reported fiscal second-quarter sales of $47.86 billion, topping analyst expectations of roughly $47.27 billion, alongside adjusted earnings per share of $4.92, ahead of the $4.73 consensus estimate. The company reaffirmed its full-year guidance, continuing to project comparable sales of roughly flat to up 2% for fiscal 2026, along with adjusted earnings per share in a range of flat to up 4% from $14.69, compared with a consensus estimate of $14.96.

According to Investing.com, Home Depot shares rose as much as 2.1% in pre-market trading following the report, with demand from repair-focused customers proving more resilient than some investors had feared. However, by the time regular trading got underway, the stock’s gains had moderated considerably, with CNBC reporting the shares up only around 1% after the company left its full-year guidance unchanged despite the top-line beat. Oppenheimer analyst Brian Nagel offered commentary on the results in a CNBC interview, breaking down the retailer’s performance as investors weighed the company’s outlook against continuing softness in the broader housing market. Home Depot separately reaffirmed its guidance while citing what the company described as “frozen housing market conditions,” according to CNBC’s coverage of the report.

Notably, Home Depot’s earnings call was led by interim management, with Senior Executive Vice President Ann-Marie Campbell and Chief Financial Officer Richard McPhail steering the company after Chief Executive Ted Decker began a temporary medical leave on Aug. 12.

Home Depot’s results carried added significance given the broader context of this week’s retail earnings slate. Walmart, Target, Lowe’s and TJX are all scheduled to report results over the coming days, with Lowe’s set to report Wednesday and Walmart due Thursday. Those reports are being closely watched following Friday’s weaker-than-expected U.S. retail sales data, which showed sales unexpectedly fell 0.6% in July, the largest monthly decline in more than a year, raising questions about whether elevated interest rates, inflation and broader household financial pressure are beginning to weigh more heavily on consumer spending.

TheStreet Pro contributor James “Rev Shark” DePorre highlighted the outsized importance the market is placing on this week’s retail results given that backdrop. “The retailers are the real news,” DePorre said. “Walmart (WMT), Target (TGT), and Home Depot (HD) all report earnings, and after Friday’s weaker-than-expected retail sales those reports will carry more weight than they normally would.” DePorre also flagged Wednesday’s scheduled release of Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes as a significant event to watch this week, given recent signs of division among Fed officials. “Given that three members dissented in favor of a hike at the last meeting and Kevin Warsh declined to signal anything about the path ahead, the minutes may be more informative than usual,” he said.

Beyond the retail and Home Depot storylines, Tuesday’s session also featured notable pressure across the memory chip sector. Micron Technology and SK Hynix each fell more than 4% in premarket trading, while shares of Sandisk also declined more than 4%, according to CNBC, as memory chipmakers broadly retreated as a group after a period of significant gains tied to artificial intelligence-driven demand.

Elsewhere in Tuesday’s earnings and market news, optical product manufacturer Fabrinet fell more than 9% despite fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that exceeded expectations, with the company citing anticipated seasonal expense pressure expected to weigh on margins during its fiscal first quarter of 2027. Buy-now-pay-later company Klarna’s stock plunged following a trimmed financial outlook, according to Yahoo Finance’s market coverage, while packaging company Amcor was downgraded to neutral from overweight by JPMorgan on Monday.

Individual premarket movers Tuesday included notable volatility beyond the major blue-chip names. Electric vehicle company Xos surged 114.6% on heavy trading volume, while medical technology company Profusa climbed 97.2%, according to market tracking. Super League Enterprise also jumped 64.5% amid unusually high trading activity, illustrating pockets of significant speculative interest even amid the broader market’s more cautious overall tone Tuesday morning.

With Wednesday’s Federal Reserve minutes and Lowe’s earnings report on deck, followed by Walmart’s results Thursday, investors are likely to continue closely monitoring how this week’s combination of retail earnings, Fed commentary and ongoing Middle East-driven oil price volatility shapes broader market direction through the remainder of the week, as Wall Street works to reconcile continued strength in areas like artificial intelligence-linked technology stocks against renewed uncertainty stemming from both geopolitical developments and signs of a softening U.S. consumer.

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Google Home and Nest devices experienced a widespread, server-side outage Monday into Tuesday, leaving users across multiple continents unable to control smart speakers, displays and connected home devices, according to outage-tracking services and reports from affected users worldwide.

Downdetector posted on its official account on the social platform X that “user reports indicate problems with Google Nest since 9:20 AM EDT,” tagging the post with the hashtag #GoogleNestDown and directing users to its outage-tracking page for further updates. The post had drawn nearly 1,900 views shortly after being published.

According to Android Authority, the disruption first became apparent much earlier, with Downdetector showing a massive spike in outage reports around 6 a.m. local time in the United Kingdom, corresponding to roughly 1 a.m. Eastern time and 10 p.m. Pacific time in the United States on Sunday night. Reports of the outage continued building throughout the overnight hours and into Monday and Tuesday, with more than 300 users reporting server problems on Downdetector when the issue was first identified, according to Sportskeeda’s coverage of the disruption. Users shared reports of the outage from locations across the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia.

The scope of reported symptoms has been broad, spanning multiple Google smart home products. Users have reported that the Google Home app has been unable to control connected devices or receive normal responses in some cases. Nest speakers, including the Google Nest Mini, have failed to respond to voice commands, while Nest Hub displays have become stuck on loading screens or otherwise failed to process user requests. Google Assistant itself has also been affected, with voice commands requesting information or attempting to control smart home devices returning errors rather than completing the requested action. Additionally, some users have reported that scheduled routines and manually triggered automations tied to their smart home setups have failed to execute properly during the outage.

Android Authority reported that standard troubleshooting steps commonly used to resolve smart home device issues, including rebooting affected devices or performing a full factory reset, have not resolved the problem for users experiencing the outage, indicating the disruption stems from Google’s server-side infrastructure rather than any fault with individual devices themselves. As a result, affected users have had little recourse beyond waiting for Google to implement a fix on its end.

The Sunday Guardian reported that users in the United Kingdom have been among those affected by the ongoing disruption, describing a range of complaints including unresponsive speakers, failed voice commands, and Nest Hub devices stuck on blank or loading screens. Users have also reported continued difficulty controlling connected devices and running previously configured automated routines as the outage has persisted.

According to reporting on the incident, the disruption appears to be affecting Google’s cloud-side services that support Nest and Google Home products, rather than the individual hardware devices themselves, though Google had not officially confirmed the precise technical cause of the outage as of the most recent available reporting. Some users have reported that their devices intermittently began working again during the outage window, suggesting the disruption may not be uniformly affecting all users or regions at all times, and that the situation has continued to evolve as Google works toward a resolution.

The outage arrives roughly two and a half weeks after Google rolled out a broader Google Home software update at the start of August that introduced new features for the company’s smart home ecosystem. That earlier update was not without its own complications; iOS users experienced a separate, unrelated bug at the time in which some smart lights were automatically and unexpectedly turned on, an issue Google addressed relatively quickly following user reports.

Nest, which Google acquired in 2014, has experienced periodic connectivity and service disruptions throughout its history as a cloud-connected smart home platform. According to outage-tracking service StatusGator, which has monitored Nest’s service status since September 2016, the platform has experienced more than 168 documented outages over roughly the past decade, reflecting the broader technical challenges inherent to maintaining reliable, always-connected smart home infrastructure at global scale. Historical outages affecting Nest devices have periodically drawn attention to broader concerns among users regarding the reliability of internet-dependent smart home products, particularly for use cases such as home security monitoring or, in some past instances, using connected cameras as baby monitors, where a service disruption can leave users temporarily unable to access functions they may consider essential.

Google has faced broader service disruptions affecting products well beyond its Nest and Home lineup in the past, including outages that have simultaneously affected services such as Google Search, Google Meet, Gmail and Google Cloud infrastructure more broadly. In at least one previous large-scale incident, a Google Cloud spokesperson confirmed to media outlets that the company was “currently investigating a service disruption to some Google Cloud services,” directing affected users and businesses to the company’s public status dashboard for ongoing updates, a communication pattern Google has generally followed during significant platform-wide technical incidents.

As of this report, Google had not issued a detailed public statement specifically addressing the scope, cause or expected resolution timeline for the current Nest and Google Home outage, though the company’s status dashboard for Google Workspace and related cloud services typically serves as the primary official channel through which the company communicates updates during confirmed service disruptions.

Given the global scope of the reported outage, spanning users across North America, Europe and Australia, and the consistency of symptoms described across multiple independent reports, the disruption appears to reflect a genuine, widespread technical failure within Google’s smart home infrastructure rather than a series of isolated, unrelated regional issues. Users experiencing continued problems with their Google Nest or Google Home devices were generally advised to continue monitoring official Google channels and outage-tracking services such as Downdetector for updates, since the underlying server-side nature of the disruption means individual troubleshooting steps are unlikely to resolve the issue until Google implements a fix on its end.

American Airlines passengers could soon notice some big changes when they settle into their seats, as the carrier rolls out a major overhaul of the onboard experience.

The company said Tuesday that more than 800 narrowbody aircraft will ultimately receive new entertainment systems featuring 4K displays, Bluetooth connectivity and USB-C charging.

“Big enhancements are taking flight,” American said in a post on X announcing the changes.

New aircraft equipped with the screens are expected to begin arriving in the second half of 2028, while retrofits of existing jets are scheduled to start later that year.

CHICK-FIL-A REIMAGINES SOUTHERN BREAKFAST CLASSIC AS AMERICANS PILE ON THE PROTEIN

American Airlines is planning a major cabin overhaul that will add seatback entertainment, faster connectivity and more premium seating across much of its narrowbody fleet. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images / Getty Images)

The retrofit program is expected to stretch into the early 2030s, according to American.

The move marks a notable shift for the Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier, which has for years relied heavily on passengers streaming entertainment to their own phones, tablets and laptops on many domestic flights.

The airline told Fox News Digital that changing passenger habits helped drive the decision.

“Customer preferences have evolved,” the airline shared with Fox News Digital, adding that the shift has become particularly apparent since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The carrier added that younger travelers, in particular, increasingly expect access to multiple devices and larger screens during their trips.

At the same time, improvements in satellite internet are changing what airlines can offer passengers in the cabin. American plans to begin installing high-speed Starlink Wi-Fi on its narrowbody aircraft in 2027.

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The changes, beginning in 2028 and continuing into the early 2030s, are aimed at attracting travelers willing to pay more for comfort and upgraded amenities. (Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

The airline said combining built-in screens, passengers’ personal devices and faster connectivity could create a more personalized in-flight experience, while also opening up “new opportunities for engagement and revenue growth.”

The upgrades will cover both new aircraft and planes already in American’s fleet. Newly delivered Airbus A321 and Boeing 737 MAX 10 aircraft will receive the entertainment systems, while existing narrowbody aircraft will be retrofitted.

American’s current Airbus A320 fleet is the exception and will not receive the new seatback entertainment systems, the carrier told Fox News Digital.

The cabin overhaul goes beyond screens.

American is also increasing the number of higher-priced seats across its narrowbody operation, as airlines increasingly compete for travelers willing to pay more for additional space and premium amenities.

Premium seating currently represents roughly 25% of seats on American’s narrowbody departures. The airline expects that figure to climb to approximately 40% in the coming years.

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American Airlines is betting on premium travelers by expanding first-class and extra-legroom seating across its narrowbody fleet, part of a broader push to make the onboard experience more upscale and competitive. (Courtesy Terri and Bobbie Barbour)

American is already modifying its Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft to add another row of first class. Its future Boeing 737 MAX 10 aircraft are expected to have 24 first-class seats, while the airline also plans to reconfigure its A321neo fleet with additional first-class seating.

The carrier is expanding Main Cabin Extra, its extra-legroom economy product, across most of the narrowbody fleet as well.

“We’re making one of the most significant investments in the onboard experience in our history,” American Chief Customer Officer Heather Garboden said.

The airline’s decision comes as carriers increasingly focus on premium travelers and cabin amenities as another way to differentiate themselves beyond ticket prices and schedules.

American’s new screens are expected to rank among the largest offered on narrowbody aircraft in North America, according to the carrier. The system will also offer personalized movie and television recommendations, interactive flight maps and destination information.

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The first newly delivered aircraft with the technology are still roughly two years away, meaning passengers will see the changes gradually rather than through an immediate fleetwide overhaul.

American Airlines expects the retrofit program to be completed in the early 2030s.