NEWS RELEASE
For
Immediate release
Date
16 January 2017
One in four card payments now
contactless
A quarter of all card transactions are now made via contactless, new figures from The UK Cards
Association show.
325 million purchases were made using contactless debit and credit cards in November 2016,
accounting for 25 per cent of all card payments in the month.
The rise in contactless payments led to a record £2.9 billion being spent using the technology in
November. This is an increase of 184 per cent from a year ago when contactless spending passed £1
billion in a month for the first time.
There are now 101.8 million contactless debit and credit cards in circulation in the UK. Nine in 10 (88
per cent) contactless transactions are made using a debit card, a higher proportion than for card
payments overall (78 per cent).
Richard Koch, Head of Policy at The UK Cards Association, said:
“With 125 taps every second in the UK, it’s clear that people are opting for contactless when they are
at the till. No longer is it just for the lunchtime sandwich, consumers are using their contactless cards
wherever they go - for the grocery shop, in clothes stores, and, increasingly, for the commute too.”
The one in four milestone comes just three months after contactless reached a fifth of card
transactions in August. In November 2015, 11 per cent of card transactions were contactless.
The average contactless transaction was £8.95 in November, up from £8.03 a year ago.
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ENDS
For further information contact the press office on 020 3217 8436
[email protected]
Notes to editors:
1. The contactless usage figures for November are available here:
http://www.theukcardsassociation.org.uk/contactless_contactless_statistics/index.asp
About The UK Cards Association
The UK Cards Association is the trade body for the card payments industry in the UK, representing
financial institutions which act as card issuers and acquirers.
The Association promotes co-operation between industry participants in order to progress noncompetitive matters of mutual interest; informs and engages with stakeholders to shape legal and
regulatory developments; develops industry best practice; safeguards the integrity of the card
payments industry by tackling card fraud; develops industry standards; and co-ordinates other
industry-wide initiatives such as those aiming to deliver innovation. As an Association we are
committed to delivering a card payments industry that is constantly focused on improved outcomes for
the customer. www.theukcardsassociation.org.uk
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