50% of all debit card payments are now contactless

For the first time ever, contactless payments have accounted for 50% of all debit card payments. Credit and debit card payments made in July grew 5.7% year-on-year increasing to 1.6 billion, and contactless payments on debit cards were used 647 million times alone.

The reason behind this dramatic rise in usage of this new technology is in part down to the adoption of this technology by transport networks, which allows passengers to pay by tapping their card/phone for their ticket.

Whilst for many in society the added ease and convenience of contactless payments is a positive, concerns continue to be raised regarding the potential harm and social exclusion for people who do not have a bank account.  As contactless technology continues to be adopted, it may begin to take over from cash payments seeing us edge closer towards a cashless society.

Iona Bain, founder of the Young Money Blog, has said: “The jury is out about what this means in the long-term for consumers, we have to think about the unbanked customers in the UK. They are very much reliant on cash. The rise in contactless technology risks leaving behind rural and poorer communities.”

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