Consumers turn to contactless payments

Spending on contactless cards more than trebled over the last year to reach a record 2.32 billion pounds in 2014, according to data published by The UK Cards Association.

The new figures reveal a year of “major growth” in contactless usage, with the total spend in 2014 more than double that of all the previous six years combined, with year-on-year, annual spending increasing by 255 percent from 653.4 million pounds in 2013.

Consumers can use a contactless card to pay for purchases up to 20 pounds simply by touching their card against the contactless reader in shops, bars and restaurants, and also for travel in some areas. With the ease at how to use, shoppers used their contactless cards 319.2 million times last year.

Richard Koch, head of policy at The UK Cards Association, said: "Contactless has now firmly stepped into the mainstream. With usage soaring every month last year, we’ve seen people flocking to contactless payments as they switch away from cash. For retailers, contactless means quicker queues at the tills and greater convenience for their customers."

In December 2014, UK shoppers spent more than 380 million pounds using contactless payments, an increase of 25.8 percent from November 2014, as Christmas shoppers turn to contactless payments for small payments.

In addition, overall spending on plastic increased to 49.1 billion pounds during the month of December, with debit card spending rising 7.2 percent year-on-year to over 34.5 billion pounds and credit card spending increased by 4.4 percent to 14.6 billion pounds.

Overall, debit and credit cards now make up a 75.8 percent share of total retail sales, up from 51.6 percent in 2004.