Almost 90 per cent of UK card transactions made in-store were contactless last year, according to data from Barclaycard.

With the total value of contactless growing by 7 per cent compared to the previous year, it looks like the pandemic has cemented this type of transaction as the UK’s preferred payment method.

Barclaycard’s research also found that the average value of payments using contactless saw a boost of 29 per cent, following the introduction of the £45 limit.

Since the introduction of this new limit, the average value of contactless payments has increased from £9.60 to £12.38.

Barclaycard said that the average contactless user made 141 payments last year, worth a total of £1640.

Over 65s were the group most likely to use the tech for the first time, seeing a 12 per cent annual rise in the number of active users.

Grocery saw significant growth in contactless payments, with transactions up by 29.4 per cent.

Contactless payments spent on home improvement and DIY were up 69.4 per cent, while fuel jumped by 24.7 per cent.

According to Barclaycard figures, the biggest day for contactless payments last year was Saturday 19 December, the final Saturday before Christmas Day.

This day saw 71.9 per cent more contactless spend than the daily average for the year.

“We are proud to be playing our part in helping to prevent the spread of coronavirus, and we are delighted to see that even more Brits are relying on contactless to make in-store payments,” said Raheel Ahmed, head of consumer products, Barclaycard. We believe that contactless is the safer, faster and most responsible way to pay in store, and we encourage all consumers to take advantage of it wherever possible.”

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