Contactless payments saw a massive uptake at the start of the pandemic, with this trend not showing any signs of slowing down two years later. In 2022, research from Barclaycard has found contactless payments have increased 40.2 per cent year on year, with 91.1 per cent of all eligible card transactions in 2021 having been made contactlessly.
The data also shows that shoppers increasingly opted for ‘touch and go’ at the check-out following the limit increase from £45 to £100 in October 2021, which resulted in the average number of transactions made contactlessly in the UK each day growing by 27.5 per cent.
Growth across all sectors
All sectors have benefited from the contactless limit increase, with the payment method saving an average of seven seconds per transaction compared to Chip and PIN and 15 seconds compared to cash.
Analysis across sectors shows that the value of contactless transactions made in the entertainment sector, which includes cinemas, theatres, bowling alleys, arcades grew by 105.8 per cent, while bars, pubs and clubs drove an 83.4 per cent increase year-on-year.
Other significant increases in the value of payments made include at sports and outdoor retailers (up 64.7 per cent), clothing stores (up 64.6 per cent) and takeaway and fast food outlets (up 39.2 per cent).
How consumers used contactless in 2021
Individually, the average contactless user made 180 contactless payments in 2021, worth a total of £2,293, an increase from 2020 where users made on average 141 payments worth £1,640.
As UK consumers finalised their festive purchases, Thursday 23 December 2021 was the busiest day for contactless transactions, where the value of eligible sales grew by 121.4 per cent, compared to the daily average of 2021.
Jose Carvalho, Head of Consumer Products at Barclaycard said: “Our data shows that many shoppers have welcomed the £100 increase to the contactless limit and are now choosing to pay this way for goods and services in store. Unsurprisingly, many consumers are also increasingly reluctant to touch cash or PIN pads when they go to shops which is why innovations that enable a ‘low-touch’ experience, such as contactless payments have really grown in popularity.”
Rob Cameron, CEO of Barclaycard Payments, said: “The increase to the £100 payment limit has been a great opportunity to take friction out of the purchase experience. This is especially the case in busy stores where queues can quickly build up; the faster that line moves through, the more likely shoppers are to have a good experience and want to come back. Speed at the checkout will often avoid shoppers going elsewhere, which is why the limit increase is a win-win for cardholders and merchants.”
