Contactless cards accounted for over £9 billion in sales in the first half of the year, already overtaking the £7.75 billion in sales in the whole of last year.
Statistics of the first half of 2016 from the UK Cards Association show that contactless card transactions are continuing to rise exponentially.
There were 1.1 billion contactless transactions right up until July this year.
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In June the average spend of a transaction was £8.60 and contactless payments accounted for 18 per cent of total purchases, over double that amount compared to June 2015.
Overall card payments of any type accounted for £53 billion in June, an increase of £0.4 billion from May.
The UK Cards Association’s head of policy Richard Koch said: “Contactless cards are firmly entrenched as the preferred way to pay for millions of consumers, who expect to be able to use them for everyday purchases.
“We anticipate the use of contactless cards will continue to increase, particularly as charities and transport operators outside London recognise the benefits this technology can bring.”
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