Contactless payments hit the spot for UK consumers

Research released by Barclaycard, shows that the UK’s appetite for contactless payments is gathering momentum and 1 in every 10 card payments we now make is contactless. Considering how much hype there has been over security fears, it seems the wave and pay revolution is finally happening.

Contactless transactions topped £120billion

Contactless card transactions in topped £120billion, and in the final quarter there was an increase of 92% of people using the tap and go system. However, despite this huge hike in numbers, millions of people remain locked out as a number of banks and building societies still don’t provide cards with contactless technology.

Retailers and restaurants are being warned that they need to upgrade to the new system as customers are increasingly getting frustrated when contactless isn’t offered as a payment option.

A cashless future?

I hope that the £30 threshold for payments will increase this year as consumer confidence in security grows. However, for some retailers such as supermarkets – where the average consumer spend per visit is £25 – the current threshold is sufficient, and thanks to supermarkets leading the charge in the adoption of new payment technology, they now account for 30% of all contactless transactions.

The future for contactless payments will undoubtably see us as a cashless society, and I predict alternative payments methods – such as fingerprint and retinal scans – being developed. All our new EasyPay machines offer contactless payment, and we will continue to move with the technology as it changes.