UK small and medium-sized enterprises are moving to accept contactless payments at an increasingly rapid rate as a result of the Coronavirus crisis, according to NatWest.

In the two months since the start of UK lockdown, 70 per cent of businesses registering for the bank’s Tyl by NatWest payment service are new to card payments, suggesting that the trend away from businesses accepting cash and coin payments has accelerated as a result of the crisis.

The findings correlate with global trends that show a 300 per cent increase in online searches for the term ‘contactless payment’ over the last two months, based on data from Google.

Mike Elliff, chief executive of Tyl, said: “We know that much of this current trend is driven by necessity related to the current crisis, such as the desire to accept contactless payments for hygiene reasons, as well as businesses moving to offer delivery services or accepting orders and payments by phone to reduce physical contact.”

NatWest has waived terminal fees for Tyl until the end of 2020, ensuring the option to receive contactless payment is open to as many businesses as possible during the current crisis.

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