Contactless spending jumps 34 percent

Contactless spending continues to surge in popularity for UK shoppers with the latest figures revealing that the ‘touch and go’ payment has jumped 34 percent since the start of 2017.

Barclaycard’s quarterly Contactless Spending Index shows that more than half (51 percent) of all transactions up to the eligible spending limit of 30 pounds are now made using contactless.

The news comes as industry body, The UK Cards Association, reveals that credit and debit payments have doubled in the last 10 years, with the increased use of contactless being one of the main drivers of this growth.

While contactless card transactions have been continuing to grow over the past few years, data from the Index shows that mobile payments are now also catching on, with the amount spent by users of Barclaycard’s Android Contactless Mobile app increasing by 90 percent in 2017.

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.

“With more innovation in the pipeline and a continued rise in consumer and merchant adoption, 2017 is on track to be another record-breaking year for contactless spending.”

Barclaycard’s data also revealed that shoppers in the Midlands and the north of England are increasing their use of contactless more than anywhere else in the UK, with the biggest jumps in spending seen in Derby up 45 percent, Chester up 44 percent, Newcastle Upon Tyne up 42 percent, Coventry up 42 percent and Stoke on Trent up 41 percent.