Contactless, tap to pay in the United Kingdom (UK)

Statistics report on the use of NFC technology and QR codes on cards and wearable devices in the United Kingdom (UK)

Contactless, tap to pay in the United Kingdom (UK)

One of the early adopters of contactless payments - sometimes also referred to as NFC or tap to pay - in Europe, the United Kingdom has a relatively high user penetration for contactless debit card payments as well as for QR codes. Smartphones, on the other hand, were not yet as popular for these new type of transactions.

This report investigates the use of contactless payments in the United Kingdom. Are these popular and, if so, what type of contactless payment takes precedence? The main focus of this report includes:

       
  • Contactless payments by (debit, credit) card;
  •    
  • Mobile proximity payments - contactless payments conducted with smartphone or wearable device;
  •    
  • QR codes.

This particular report is an expansion to another report, which compares the use of tap to pay in the UK against other (cashless) payment methods available within the country. This report can be found below:
       
  1. Digital payments in the United Kingdom (UK).

Table of contents

Cards

6
  • Premium Statistic Most used in-store (POS) payment methods in the UK 2017-2023, with 2027 forecast
  • Premium Statistic Main measures introduced by visitor attractions due to COVID-19 in England 2020
  • Premium Statistic Share of credit and debit cards with contactless functionality in UK 2007-2020
  • Premium Statistic Monthly POS payment volume of contactless debit and credit cards in the UK 2016-2021
  • Premium Statistic Monthly number of contactless debit and credit cards in circulation in UK 2016-2021
  • Premium Statistic Monthly value per contactless/tap to pay card transaction in the UK 2015-2021

Mobile devices

6
  • Premium Statistic Proximity mobile payment users in the UK 2017-2021, with forecasts for 2022 to 2026
  • Premium Statistic Adoption of mobile contactless/tap to pay in 23 countries worldwide in 2019 and 2021
  • Premium Forecast Mobile POS payment penetration rate in 34 countries worldwide 2023
  • Premium Forecast Most used mobile payments by brand in the UK 2023
  • Premium Forecast Wearable devices ownership in selected countries 2023
  • Premium Statistic Use of wearable technology for POS payments in Europe 2019, by country

QR codes

6
  • Premium Statistic Global QR payment market size in 2020 with forecasts to 2025, by region
  • Premium Statistic Use of QR codes as a payment method worldwide 2020-2021
  • Basic Statistic QR code usage increase since shelter-in-place in the U.S. and UK 2020
  • Basic Statistic Most recent QR code scan according to U.S. and UK consumers 2020
  • Basic Statistic Recent locations for scanning QR codes according to U.S. and UK consumers 2020
  • Basic Statistic Secure locations for scanning QR codes according to U.S. and UK consumers 2020

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