Nearly 90% of All Card Payments Are Now Contactless

Lloyds Bank experts report that debit card spending made with contactless technology has risen from 65% to 87% in the past three years.

The growth of contactless cards was accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced an increase in the limit from £30 to £45 and then again to £100.

Contactless payment is most popular in restaurants, where it is used in 93% of transactions, and least popular in convenience stores (68% of transactions), where the average purchase price is high.

While the tap and pay has proven very popular, Lloyds Bank notes the high demand for its feature allowing customers to set their own limit.

Since the feature was introduced in the fall of 2021, 800,000 debit card customers have used it to freeze contactless payments or choose an alternative limit. More than half of those who set their own limit chose an amount less than £50.