Contactless on the up, Barclaycard research

The amount Brits spent via contactless rose 157% in 2017, although the number of actual transactions only went up by 47%, according to Barclaycard. In comparison, the amount spent in 2016 increased by 166%, while the number of transactions shot up by 111%.

Adam Herson, Business Development Director at Barclays Mobile Payments, says: “Contactless payments are now part of everyday life for millions of Britons. As a result, increasingly over the past year we have seen a dramatic interest in a new generation of payment systems – chips that can be seamlessly incorporated into items of clothing, watches or jewellery. I would expect to see this area grow exponentially over the next 12 months.”