# One in four card payments now contactless as usage continues to rise - Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/01/18/one-four-card-payments-now-contactless-usage-continues-rise/ - Published: 2017-01-18T10:28:18+00:00 - Author: Melanie May **Contactless payments are continuing to rise with one quarter of card payments now via this method, according to figures from [The UK Cards Association](http://www.theukcardsassociation.org.uk/welcome/).** 325 million purchases were made using contactless debit and credit cards in November 2016, accounting for 25 per cent of all card payments in the month, compared to 11% in November 2015. The average contactless transaction in November 2016 was £ 8.95, up from £8.03 the previous year. A record £2.9 billion was spent via contactless payments in November: an increase of 184 per cent from a year ago when contactless spending passed £1 billion in a month for the first time. ## Advertisement [⌊Posthub advert. You create the campaign. We'll handle the postal journey. Get started at post-hub.co.uk.⌉](https://fundraising.co.uk/ads/posthub-20261007-300x250/) 101.8 million contactless debit and credit cards are now in circulation in the UK. Nine in 10 (88 per cent) contactless transactions are made using a debit card, a higher proportion than for card payments overall (78 per cent). Richard Koch, head of policy at The UK Cards Association, said: > “With 125 taps every second in the UK, it’s clear that people are opting for contactless > when they are at the till. No longer is it just for the lunchtime sandwich, consumers > are using their contactless cards wherever they go – for the grocery shop, in > clothes stores, and, increasingly, for the commute too.” More charities are also starting to use the technology. Last year’s Poppy Appeal saw the Royal British Legion trial [contactless collection tins](https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/11/10/royal-british-legion-trials-contactless-poppy-appeal-collection-tins/) in branches of NatWest, while Blue Cross introduced [Tap Dogs](https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/05/19/blue-cross-uses-dogs-mobile-contactless-fundraising/), which saw the charity fundraise using dogs wearing coats that could accept contactless donations from mobile phones. Cancer Research UK also used the technology to [collect donations on World Cancer Day](https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/02/03/216279/), allowing people to donate £2 by tapping their cards against one of 16 contactless donation terminals. > You can now donate to [@The_Blue_Cross](https://twitter.com/The_Blue_Cross?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > via "pat & tap" contactless dogs [#Fintech](https://twitter.com/hashtag/Fintech?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > [#Charity](https://twitter.com/hashtag/Charity?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [https://t.co/9WxjcdEKWz](https://t.co/9WxjcdEKWz) > [pic.twitter.com/Mo5AF2Iyaw](https://t.co/Mo5AF2Iyaw) > — Teamspirit Group (@TeamspiritGroup) [May 20, 2016](https://twitter.com/TeamspiritGroup/status/733736305260007425?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > The Royal British Legion launch contactless Poppy collection tins with NatWest > [https://t.co/OXH3nSUbbG](https://t.co/OXH3nSUbbG) via [@po_st](https://twitter.com/Po_st?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > — Nick Howe – NatWest Group 💙 (@Nick__Howe) [November 9, 2016](https://twitter.com/Nick__Howe/status/796396054430224384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) ![Loading](https://fundraising.co.uk/wp-content/plugins/page-views-count/ajax-loader- 2x.gif)