The number of electronic transactions in the United Kingdom has continued to increase at a rapid rate along with the continued growth in mobile and online shopping.

Figures from Barclaycard corroborate this upward trend, with the global payments company having processed more than 4.6 billion transactions in the country in 2015—up 16 percent from the previous year.

Credit, debit and ecommerce spending among British shoppers surged from £5.7 billion in 2004 to more than £12 billion in 2014.

Barclaycard released these figures as it marked 30 years since it first deployed electronic credit card payments in 1986 through the Process Data Quickly (PDQ) terminal.

Barclaycard’s launch of electronic credit card payments ultimately helped shape the future of commerce in the country and paved the way for online shopping revolution.

Today, the company has about one million PDQ terminals across the UK, with nearly 1.2 million businesses accepting card payments.

James McDonald, Director of Innovation and Strategic Initiatives, Barclaycard said, “In 1986, when we first launched PDQ, the demand for payment innovation was driven by the merchants’ need for a more secure and more efficient way of taking card payments. Over the past 30 years, the payments process has transformed at a rapid rate, leading to the development of the quickest and most convenient payment methods we’ve ever seen, such as contactless and wearables.

“Looking ahead to the next three decades, we will continue to see payment innovation evolve as providers focus on putting customer experience at the heart of new innovation. While advances in mobile technology in particular will continue to improve in the immediate future, further down the line we could be heading towards a world where payment by finger print, or even by retina, eventually become the norm.”