The total value of contactless payments made in the UK jumped by 49.7% in 2022, Barclays reports, “as Brits embraced the £100 transaction limit and returned to high street shopping following the easing of all coronavirus restrictions”.

Contactless users made an average of 220 ‘touch and go’ transactions during the year, up from 180 in 2021, with the average value per transaction rising by 18.5% to £15.13 (US$18.20), Barclays says.

In all, 91.2% of all eligible transactions were contactless and the average user spent a total of £3,327 (US$4,001) via contactless during the year.

“There was also rapid growth in the value of mobile wallet contactless payments over the £100 card limit,” the bank adds. “These payments accounted for 4.1% of the total value of all contactless transactions last year, compared with 3% the previous year.” 

“For the second year running, the fastest growth in contactless usage came from the over 65s, where the percentage of contactless users rose by 3.8%.”

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