Every day last year around 20 million ‘tap and go’ payments were made, according to trade association UK Finance.
Contactless card spending surged by nearly a third in 2018 and one in three card transactions are now ‘tap and go’.
A total of £69billion was spent using contactless cards in 2018 – up by 31.8 per cent compared to the year before.
Of this £58.4 billion was spent on debit cards and £10.6 billion was spent on credit cards.
Customers made a total of 7.4 billion transactions using contactless cards in 2018 which means 20 million were made every day.
Some 82 million of the 99 million debit cards now in circulation have a contactless function.
And 41 million of the 60 million credit cards in the UK are contactless.
Low-value purchases are being made with contactless cards and mobiles instead of cash, according to Eric Leenders, managing director of personal finance at UK Finance.
He said: ‘Many of us are now reaching for our cards or mobiles rather than cash to make low-value purchases, as customers opt for the convenience and security of paying with contactless.
‘There has also been an increase in credit card use although growth in outstanding balances has slowed, suggesting many consumers are using their cards for day-to-day spending rather than as a means of borrowing.’
Source: Daily Mail