The number of UK contactless cards in issue has topped 150 million for the first time.

According to March 2024 data from UK Finance, contactless cards now make up 93 per cent of the cards in issue across the nation.

There were 1.59 billion contactless card transactions made in March, up 5.9 per cent compared to the same four-week period of 2023.

Within this total, the number of contactless debit card transactions - 1.3 billion - was 5.3 per cent higher, while contactless credit card transactions - 225 million - were up 9.3 per cent.

This means contactless payments accounted for 76 per cent of all debit card transactions and 63 per cent of all credit card transactions made during March 2024.

“Contactless cards continue to be a very popular way of consumer spending, whether that’s using a physical card or through a mobile phone,” said Janine Randolph, head of data management, UK Finance. “There are over 150 million contactless cards now in issue and across these people spent over £25 billion on them in March alone.”

The total value of contactless transactions was £25.1 billion in March, a 10.2 per cent increase compared to March 2023.

Total spending across all cards, including contactless, online and chip and pin was £75.8 billion and there was a total of 2.2 billion debit and credit card transactions made in the month.

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