Key Facts and Stats >>

Regional split of contactless terminals in the UK as at May 2010:

It is estimated that 1 in 14 UK cardholders now has contactless functionality on at least one debit or credit card (as at end May 2010); this is expected to rise to 1 in 5 cardholders before the end of 2012.

In the UK, over 9.6 million credit and debit cards have been issued with Contactless functionality (as at the end of May 2010).

In the UK the number of contactless terminals is approximately 26,100 (as at the end of May 2010).

The actual trends from the previous 6 months would indicate that approximately 14 million cards will have been issued with contactless functionality by the end of 2010; reaching approximately 25 million by the 2012 Olympics. However, towards the end of 2010 additional card companies are expected to join rollout, so the number of cards is expected to surpass the trend predictions - although it is not yet possible to quantify.

For cardholders in the UK the Contactless transaction limit is set to increase from £10 to £15 from 20 February 2010. The industry has agreed to increase the Contactless transaction limit in response to demand from retailers and cardholders.

More details on the Contactless transaction limit can be found here.