FF News Logo
Saturday, October 11, 2025
ITC Vegas

Breaking News

EXCLUSIVE: “Passion Project” – Brice van de Walle, Mastercard in ‘The Fintech Magazine’ FreedomPay Drives Global Merchant Innovation FIS Brings AI-Powered Advancements to Seamless, Personalized Digital Banking Experiences Citi Ventures Invests in BVNK to Power the Next Generation of Financial Infrastructure Nearly Two-Thirds of Global Retailers Say Payment Method Flexibility Drives Revenue Growth, ACI Worldwide Survey Finds Ipswich Town Selects IFX Payments as an Elite Partner Baghdadi Capital Group Selects nCino to Power Global Growth and Expansion Strategy Zilch Unveils Intelligent Commerce & Zilch Pay to Power Next Phase of Rapid Growth Splitit Launches Partner Program to Power Installments for Agentic Commerce Keyrails Chooses Flagright to Power Real‑Time Transaction Monitoring and AML Screening Socotra Launches Agentic AI for Insurance Product Configuration iBanFirst Launches iBanPay, Its New AI Assistant to the UK NatWest Strengthens Support for UK Innovation Economy With Key Strategic Hires Moto and NCR Atleos Extend Collaboration, Expanding Self-Service Cash Access U.S. Bank Selected to Provide Custody Services for Reserves Backing Payment Stablecoins From Anchorage Digital Bank

March 16 2022

UK Finance: Average contactless payment increases by almost 30% since new £100 limit was introduced

Share this post:

Share on LinkedIn Share on WhatsApp

December 2021 card spending data from UK Finance reveals that the average amount spent per contactless card transaction rose by almost 30 per cent following the contactless spending limit increasing from £45 to £100 in October last year. In September, prior to the contactless limit increase, the average spend per contactless payment was £11.86, which increased to £15.30 in December.

The increased limit came into effect on 15 October, but it took a period of time for retailers and payment providers to update their systems and offer the new £100 limit, which means the increase in the average payment took time to show up.

The table below shows how the average transaction amount increased:

Month Average contactless transaction amount
September 2021 £11.86
October 2021 £12.27
November 2021 £13.57
December 2021 £15.30

For 2021 as a whole, the card spending data shows a total of 13.1 billion contactless payments were made in the year – equivalent to 415 transactions every second. This is up 36 per cent compared with 2020 and 52 per cent higher than pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

The total value of contactless transactions in 2021 also increased, reaching £165.9 billion. This is 46 per cent higher than in 2020 and 106 per cent more than 2019.

Total number of contactless transactions  Total value of contactless transactions 
2019 8.6 billion £80.5 billion
2020 9.6 billion £113.5 billion
2021 13.1 billion £165.9 billion

The proportion of card payments that were contactless continued to increase in December 2021 and reached its highest recorded level, accounting for 69 per cent of all debit card transactions and 56 per cent of all credit card transactions.

Lee Hopley, Director of Economic Insight and Research at UK Finance, said:  “These figures show the continued popularity of contactless payments, as well as the fact people are making higher value payments. From October last year the new £100 limit was rolled out and it gives customers greater choice about how they pay for things like their weekly shop or a tank of fuel. For 2021 as a whole there were over 13 billion contactless transactions, which was a significant increase on the previous year, and in December a record 69 per cent of all debit card payments were contactless purchases.”

People In This Post

Lee Hopley | Director of Economic Insight and Research at UK Finance | Fintech Finance

Lee Hopley

UK Finance

Companies In This Post

UK Finance
  1. EXCLUSIVE: “Passion Project” – Brice van de Walle, Mastercard in ‘The Fintech Magazine’

    The Fintech Magazine

     Read more
  2. FreedomPay Drives Global Merchant Innovation

    Event Videos

     Read more
  3. FIS Brings AI-Powered Advancements to Seamless, Personalized Digital Banking Experiences

    Fintech

     Read more
  4. Citi Ventures Invests in BVNK to Power the Next Generation of Financial Infrastructure

    Funding

     Read more
  5. Nearly Two-Thirds of Global Retailers Say Payment Method Flexibility Drives Revenue Growth, ACI Worldwide Survey Finds

    News

     Read more
Gitex Global
More On