The UK’s largest acquirer Barclaycard Merchant
Services has said it is recording over a million contactless
transactions every month.

A Barclaycard consumer survey also found over
eight out of ten UK respondents know the meaning of the contactless
symbol, doubling last year’s figure.

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A shift in consumer preferences also emerged
in the increased usage of cards, with 61% of interviewed saying
they prefer cards over cash to buy items up to GBP20.

“The number of people using contactless has
rocketed over the last year and, across Barclays, we’re now seeing
our customers make more than a million such payments per month,”
Barclaycard retailer relationship director Richard Armstrong
said.

“We’re now working with a much wider range of
retailers across transport, supermarkets, entertainment and indeed
anywhere you currently use cash,” he said.

Behavioural psychologist Donna Dawson
explained the boost in electronic payments represent the leap of a
psychological barrier.

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“There are connected issues at work – habit
and fear. We’ve been using coins since 600BC, which is a tough
habit to break.

“Increased recognition leads to a significant
trend developing, and represents the breakthrough of a
psychological barrier. So the fact that we are witnessing this with
a technology which is only five years old compared to centuries of
cash is remarkable.”

One of the main hurdles for the adoption of
contactless is fear of fraud, with 75% of people not knowing
contactless are insured like all card payments. When told, four in
ten said they would be more inclined to use the technology, the
research stated.