Ten contactless transactions took place in the UK every second in 2014, The UK Cards Association has revealed, and total spending on contactless cards more than trebled to reach a record £2.32bn. In total, 319.2m contactless transactions were conducted in 2014, up from 100.4m the year before.

Total spend in the year was more than double that of all the previous six years combined with year-on-year annual spending rising by 255% from £653.4m in 2013. There are now 58m contactless cards in circulation in the UK, a 52.2% rise compared to a year previous, the association adds, and the average contactless transaction is now £8.26.

“Contactless has now firmly stepped into the mainstream,” says Richard Koch, head of policy at The UK Cards Association. “With usage soaring every month last year, we’ve seen people flocking to contactless payments as they switch away from cash. For retailers, contactless means quicker queues at the tills and greater convenience for their customers.”

In September 2014, Transport for London (TfL) launched contactless payments across the transport network in the capital city. Since the launch, 41m journeys have been made, with about 415,000 journeys a day paid for with a contactless card.

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