Contactless is now the preferred way to pay for British shoppers, according to data from Barclaycard.
The payment card provider’s quarterly Contactless Spending Index shows that spending via ‘touch and go’ payment is up by more than a third (34%) since the start of the year.
Just over half (51%) of all transactions up to the eligible spending limit of £30 are now made using contactless payment cards or mobile payments.
Adam Herson, Director at Barclaycard Mobile Payments, said: “Our data shows that growth in contactless spending has been surging for several years, but this latest insight is particularly significant as it shows shoppers now prefer to pay with ‘touch and go’, with more than half of eligible transactions made this way. This saves them valuable time at the checkout and makes buying goods and services far more convenient too.”
A recent report from the UK Cards Association revealed that credit and debit card payments have more than doubled in the past 10 years, with the increased use of contactless being one of the main drivers of this growth.
London’s transport network is one place where contactless payment has really taken off.
New figures from Transport for London (TfL) show that 40% of all ‘pay as you go’ journeys are now made using contactless payment – up from around 25% a year ago.
The capital has now seen more than one billion journeys made by contactless payment, and today almost one in 10 contactless transactions on London’s buses, Tube and rail services are made using mobile devices. In the last 12 months, more than 31 million journeys in London have been made using mobile phone payment.
Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, said: “London continues to lead the way in terms of contactless payment around the world, and the money we make selling TfL’s innovation and expertise to other major global cities will allow us to put further money into improving London’s own transport network.”
