As the contactless payments limit in Britain rises from £20 to £30, new figures from the UK Cards Association show that more than £2.5 billion was spent via tap and go in the first half of 2015.
From 1 September, payments terminals across the country will be updated to increase the upper limit, bringing it closer to the average card transaction value of £46.92.
The move means that the average supermarket spend of £25 now falls below the contactless limit, further squeezing the demand for cash as big chains like Sainsburys get on board. The average card spend in pubs, cinemas, dry cleaners, pet shops and gift shops also falls under the new mark.
Contactless spending has risen from £287 million per month in January to £567 million in June. In total, £2.5 billion was spent on contactless cards and devices in the first half of 2015, compared to £2.32 billion for the whole of 2014.
There are now nearly 70 million contactless cards in the country and just under 260,000 terminals.
Kevin Jenkins, MD, UK & Ireland, Visa Europe, says: "Today’s threshold increase to £30 gives consumers all the benefits of contactless across a broader range of their daily activities, and we expect to see this momentum continue to build as more people adopt mobile and wearable payment technology."
Mark Barnett, president, MasterCard UK & Ireland, adds: "We expect this upward trend to persist with consumers continuing to migrate to contactless card payments and increasingly to mobile payments, as we work with partners such as Apple to enable more convenient ways to pay."