In most mature payment markets, use of payment cards is strong and year over year growth is minimal but in the UK, the UK Cards Association is reporting a 12% increase in card use due to an increasing willingness to use plastic cards rather than cash for low value purchases because contactless technology has made it so convenient.
According to the UK Cards Association, British consumers spent more than £600 ($921) billion on cards last year thanks in part to the surge of contactless transactions that saw contactless based transactions in the first nine months of 2014, exceed transactions for the past six years combined.
Commenting on the results Richard Koch, head of policy at the UK Cards Association said,
“With more places now accepting cards, contactless payments and the rise in online shopping the large jump in card spending we saw last year looks set to continue.”
With a greater share of contactless cards in the market and a growing acceptance network, there is little to suggest that contactless volume won’t continue to surge in the years ahead. While cash remains popular in the UK, transactions using cash are declining and contactless payments are removing a vital use case for cash in low value transactions.
Overview by Tristan Hugo-Webb, Associate Director, Global Payments Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
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