Barclays has reported the number of contactless payments made through its systems has risen by 150 per cent in the last 12 months and predicted further growth in the coming years.
There are now 52,000 Barclaycard contactless payment terminals in the UK, the company stated, providing a valuable service to the country’s estimated 12.9 million cardholders.
Contactless card distribution has swelled by 90 per cent since 2009, with over 1.7 million transactions processed using the technology last year.
Now, the company says major retailers such as the Co-op and McDonalds are trialling it in-store.
Richard Armstrong, head of UK payment acceptance at Barclaycard, said: “The range of retailers offering contactless payments grew significantly in 2010 but this is still only the beginning.”
This follows a similar announcement from Lloyds TSB, which revealed it will apply the technology to its Visa debit cards to allow customers to make payments of £15 or less without using their PIN number.