The UK Card Association has released figures showing that contactless spending reached £1 billion in a month for the first time last November.
Contactless payments totalled £1.02 billion in November 2015, the new data shows. By contrast, in January 2015, contactless spending amounted to just £287 million.
Contactless spending was up 10 per cent on October 2015, with the number of purchases up by six per cent on October to 128 million. The average transaction value of a contactless payment increased to £8.03 in November, up from £7.72 in October, likely due to the contactless payment limit increasing from £20 to £30 in September.
Richard Koch, Head of Policy at The UK Cards Association, said:
“Spending on contactless cards has increased almost fourfold since the beginning of 2015 and for £1 billion to be spent via contactless in a month is a major milestone. Whether it’s buying lunch or paying for travel, there is a real appetite for contactless payments and this is only going to grow and grow.
“Making a contactless payment is fast, easy and secure. With so many retailers now accepting this technology, we are sure consumers will continue to vote with their wallets and use contactless cards as their preferred way to pay.â€
Total spending on payment cards in November 2015 reached £53.2 billion, with the number of purchases at a monthly record of 1.174 billion, with rises partly attributable to the impact of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Total online spending was £11.8 billion, compared to £10.4 billion in November 2014. The number of online purchases increased by 23 per cent year on year.