Contactless card payments increase by 237% in 2016


A new study by Visa Europe shows that the increase of the minimum spend limit for contactless payments has led to an uptake in contactless spending.

Contactless card payments are a fast and secure way to purchase items, with no need to enter PIN information. Originally introduced with a maximum spend limit of £10 in 2007, this increased to £30 in September 2015.

This increase has made contactless technology more accessible, with an average monthly growth rate of 19.1% in the past six months. It has been calculated that contactless card payments between £20 and £30 are now responsible for over 10% of similar priced transactions paid face-to-face.

With the average shopping basket in a supermarket totalling approximately £25, customers now have the ability to quickly pay for their groceries, with a 100% growth in contactless card payments compared to the six months before the introduction of the £30 limit.

The higher limit allows for more restaurant meals to be paid for using contactless technology, and showed an increased spend of 155%. There has also been an increase of £2.22 in the average contactless transaction price when paying for fuel at service stations.

Another sector seeing a boost in contactless spending is bars and pubs. The average weekly growth for contactless card payments between £20 and £30 was 30% since September, compared to a growth of only 3% for purchases under £20.

Kevin Jenkins, Managing Director UK & Ireland of Visa Europe, said: “The trajectory for contactless payments continues to look very strong. Increasing the spending limit to £30 has clearly encouraged consumer adoption and retailer opportunity across Britain.”

“Overall, we have seen 36 million contactless transactions over £20 in the first six months; which amounts to nearly £900m of transactions made easily and safely, in less time, freeing consumers from the need to carry cash.”

Is your business missing out on sales by not accepting contactless card payments? All of Handepay’s terminals are contactless enabled, allowing your customers to use the latest technology to pay. Find out more for a new card machine today!

Financial disclaimer:

Terminal hire contracts are provided by Merchant Rentals Limited, who is authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for Consumer Hire under FRN 720500. Terminal hire can be for consumer hire and non-regulated hire contracts. Please check your contract carefully for details. Regulation of all consumer hire fall under the control of the FCA.

Handepay Ltd is authorised and regulated by the FCA for Consumer Credit under FRN 673564. Handepay is a credit broker for consumer hire not a lender.

Handepay acts as an introducer of card acquiring services on behalf of EVO Payments UK, the card acquiring service provider. EVO Payments UK is the trading name of EVO Payments UK Ltd, a payment institution that is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN number 959332).

Existing Cards Businesses- The one-month rolling terminal hire contract from Merchant Rentals is only available to businesses that are switching from their current acquirer to EVO Payments UK arranged through Handepay.

New to Cards Businesses- The 12-month terminal hire contract from Merchant Rentals is only available to businesses that are new to card payments and wish to receive acquiring services from EVO Payments UK, arranged through Handepay.

The Next Day Banking Settlement service provided by EVO Payments UK incurs an additional fee of £4 a month on top of your acquiring service charges and fees. Provided your card machine performs a reconciliation before 12am (midnight), you’ll receive settlement of funds the next banking day.

Editorial disclaimer:

The information we provide does not constitute financial advice and might not apply to your business. Always carry out research into your business’ needs when choosing a new merchant services provider.

Sometimes, we link to other third-party websites to provide you with additional information. At the time of publication, we consider the information accurate, however, we do not have control over their content and are not responsible if any information on these websites change.

The products we display on our website are for illustrative purposes only - if your business requires additional facilities, you may receive a different model than advertised.

All of the information contained on this website, including fees, services and functionality, are correct at time of publishing. E&OE.

Would you like
a callback?

FIND OUT MORE

Talk to an advisor today...

Please enter your number and we'll get back to you as soon as possible. *If you'd like to schedule a callback, please enter the best date and time.

Please note: Opening hours: Mon - Fri, 9am - 5pm


+44

Please choose the best time for us to call you back. The following options are GMT timezone.