Some 3bn contactless transactions have been made across Europe using Visa cards in the past 12 months, nearly tripling the number made in the previous 12-month period, Visa Europe has revealed. Contactless payments as a proportion of all Visa processed face-to-face payments have risen from one in 60 in 2013 to more than one in five today.

Europeans used their contactless cards 360m times in April alone — up from the 143m recorded in April 2015 and representing nearly 140 transactions per second — with the average value rising 12% to €13.83 (US$15.76).

Restaurants have experienced the greatest year-on-year growth in contactless transactions (153%), followed by general retail (146%), supermarkets (119%) and food and drink including fast food outlets (96%).

Consumers in Poland, Spain and the UK use contactless the most, the findings reveal. British contactless adoption grew by 300% from 51m transactions in April 2015 to 153m in April 2016, with more than 400m contactless journeys having now taken place across Transport for London (TfL) services.

“The last 12 months has seen contactless payments continue its extraordinary growth as this quick and convenient form of payment reaches more consumers and merchants throughout Europe,” says Tristan Kirchner, executive director of product management at Visa Europe.

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