Card payments: UK contactless spending soars 30% after limit increase

The average contactless payment in the UK has increased by nearly 30% after the spending limit was increased from £45 ($59) to £100 last year, a new report says.

In September, a month before to the contactless limit increase, the average spend per contactless payment was £11.86, which increased to £15.30 in December 2021.

UK Finance’s December 2021 card spending report showed contactless payments reached a record high during the period and accounted for 69% of debit card transactions and 56% of credit card transactions.

While the limit increase came into effect on 15 October, it took some time for retailers and payment providers to update their systems and offer the new limit, meaning the surge in the average payment took longer to appear.

The total value of contactless transactions in 2021 increased to £165.9bn. This was up 46% compared to 2020 and 106% on 2019 levels, according to the association.

There were two billion debit and credit card transactions in the UK in December, 19.6% more than in December 2020 and up 8.2% compared to December 2019.

Total spend rose 9.4% to £70.5bn rose 9.4% and was 10.2% higher than the year before.

The number of contactless credit card transactions was up 57.5% on December 2020 and 60.8% higher than December 2019.

For debit card transaction this was 37.9% higher than December 2020 and rose 79.3% on December the year prior.

For 2021 as a whole, a total of 13.1 billion contactless payments were made in the year, equivalent to 415 transactions every second. That was up 36% compared with 2020 and 52% higher than pre-COVID levels in 2019.

"These figures show the continued popularity of contactless payments, as well as the fact people are making higher value payments," said Lee Hopley, director of economic insight and research at UK Finance.

"From October last year the new £100 limit was rolled out and it gives customers greater choice about how they pay for things like their weekly shop or a tank of fuel."

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