UK Contactless Spending Surges Threefold

Contactless spending in the United Kingdom tripled last year to hit £7.75 billion ($10.76 billion) in transaction volume, marking a sharp spike from the £2.32 billion ($3.22 billion) spent in 2014.

The growth of contactless spending, which more than doubled in volume than the last seven years combined, comes on the heels of widespread adoption by Transport for London (TfL), which now sees over a million journeys being paid for by contactless methods every day.

“The popularity of contactless payments on London’s transport network is phenomenal. We’ve already seen more than 350 million journeys made using contactless, using cards from more than 80 different countries,” said Shashi Verma, director of customer experience at TfL. “We were the first integrated transport authority to introduce contactless ticketing, and, as other world cities look to replicate our successes, we will continue to work to help people benefit from the ease, speed and convenience that contactless payments provide.”

According to a TfL report, 2015 contactless transaction volume constituted 1.05 billion in contactless payments, of which 79.3 million were made using NFC-enabled credit and debit cards. The numbers published in the report also reflect upon an upward growth in the years to come, with 140 million (or 52 every second) contactless transactions being recorded in December.

“The swift increase in contactless usage continued apace last year, with nearly one in eight card transactions now using the technology. Whether it’s to stock up in the supermarket, travel to work or buy your lunch, contactless is a fast, easy and secure way to make payments,” said Graham Peacop, chief executive of The UK Cards Association. “With a contactless payment, you no longer have to fumble around for the loose change in your purse or wallet. You can simply pay using a contactless card or with your mobile phone.”