The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

-d -h -min -sec

Visa Contactless Payment

Contactless payments on the rise as threshold hiked from £20 to £30

Author

By John Glenday, Reporter

September 1, 2015 | 2 min read

Contactless card payments have been handed a timely fillip after the maximum transaction threshold was raised from £20 to £30 in recognition of growing acceptance of ‘tap and go’ payments.

Visa

It is hoped the measure will drive further adoption as consumers use the technology for larger payments, signifying a continued shift away from cash in the economy, with retailers such as Greggs, McDonald’s and London transport all embracing the system.

Kevin Jenkins, managing director of Visa UK and Ireland, commented: “We believe that the new threshold increase to £30 could be the most significant to date, and has the potential to essentially redefine contactless usage. With contactless now accounting for one in 11 in-store Visa transactions, and Britons increasingly embracing the technology, our data shows that the rise could impact as many as 3 million Visa transactions per day in the UK, for a total of over £70m.

“Supermarkets, clothing stores, department stores and pharmacy chains particularly stand to benefit from the increase, as 12 - 20 per cent of Visa transactions at these retailer types fall into the £20 – 30 category. This is an opportunity to increase convenience, improve service and deliver an enhanced shopping experience for a significant number of their customers.”

Recent research published by the UK Cards Association shows that contactless payments hit £2.5bn over the first half of the year with more transactions occurring so far this year than the last six years combined.

There are now 58m contactless cards now in circulation in the UK.

Visa Contactless Payment

More from Visa

View all

Trending

Industry insights

View all
Add your own content +