A Record-Breaking Summer for the UK in Contactless Payments
The United Kingdom recently posted a watershed moment when it comes to mobile payments. It’s actually reached a new collective record for contactless mobile payments this summer, and when the growth rate is considered, this picture looks even more impressive.
Not only did July prove a huge month for contactless spending, reaching 2.1 billion pounds sterling—about $2.65 billion US—but it represented a month’s spending that was three times the amount spent in just July 2015. It also represented a market in which nearly one card transaction in five used contactless technology, and shows a market with steady growth.
For the sake of comparison, back in March, contactless spending in the UK cleared 1.5 billion pounds sterling, and hit 9.27 billion total by July, in which 2.1 billion was added. So for the six months before July—assuming July’s numbers don’t factor into that 9.27 billion total—the market spent an average of around 1.5 billion a month.
Those numbers look big, but they’re still a comparatively small part of the overall card market; card spending in July hit 53.9 billion pounds total, with debit cards accounting for most of it. Hospitality spending made up the lion’s share of spending as 2.1 billion was spent in hotels. Foreign currency spending by card was up nearly 30 percent, suggesting that a post-Brexit pound was a bit weaker and drawing clear interest in travel. It certainly doesn’t hurt that we’re talking about July, which is part of the peak travel season in Europe alongside August.
What’s clear here, regardless of the motivation, is that contactless is gaining ground, even as all cards are stepping up the game a bit. Sure, certain financial and geopolitical developments coupled with peak travel season in Europe may have exacerbated the situation, but this was a situation that was already in development. Card payments in general are on the rise, and contactless payments are proving even more popular.
A rising tide lifts all boats, and contactless payments seems no different. The overall popularity of the card-based mobile payment is only raising the contactless payment system. It sounds like big gains, but there’s a lot going into these gains that makes July less like a freak event and more like part of a steady upward climb with some surprise boost.