According to Visa Europe, contactless purchases were not just up in the UK but across the whole of Europe, with Visa cards used to make 340.1 million contactless purchases across Europe last year.
The top five markets to embrace Visa contactless payments in Europe in the last 12 months are Poland (158.7 million purchases), UK (94.3 million purchases), Czech Republic (30.6 million purchases), Slovakia (23.1 million purchases) and Spain (17.5 million purchases).The number of contactless terminals has also risen by almost 200%, with both large retailers (including M&S, Waitrose, Starbucks, Costa, Co-Op, Lidl, McDonalds and Boots) and independent retailers making contactless payments available to customers. The total number of terminals has reached 300 000.
Also, Visa Europe revealed that the number of Visa contactless cards in circulation compared to December 2012 has increased up to 125%. There are now 32.1 million Visa contactless cards in circulation in the UK with the European total reaching 80.6 million, a 158% increase on 2012.
The average UK purchase value in 2013 was GBP 6.09. The average purchase value across Europe is EUR 9.18 showing a similar trend of contactless being used for convenience shopping.
Finally, Visa Europe revealed that Londoners have also used contactless cards for transportation with 10 million contactless journeys being made on London buses using Visa contactless cards.
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