Halifax leads way with 90% of all transactions being contactless post-COVID

Paymentsense analysed data from Statistic, Google Trends, Blockchain, and their own unique transaction data to forecast which payment methods are becoming most popular and which industries are adopting them the fastest. It also looked into which UK cities are going cash-free - and according to the research Halifax is leading the way.

Halifax had the highest percentage of contactless transactions after May 2021 when restrictions had been eased once more.

Halifax saw 90.6 per cent of payments use contactless transactions. Hull and Ilford followed suit with 90 per cent and 89.6 per cent of transactions being contactless ‘post’ COVID respectively.

Jon Knott, Head of Customer Insights at Paymentsense, said: “Coronavirus has changed our lifestyles and habits considerably. While there are some things we can’t wait to resume again – like hugging loved ones and travelling abroad, some changes will be here to stay.

"Alongside contactless becoming more prevalent we’re also seeing assisted AI payments and innovative payment tech becoming increasingly available to the mass market. This means that more convenient, easy and quick payments are more accessible to consumers.

"However, as technology advances we expect to face a different range of issues.

"There needs to be consideration for those who are not as technologically savvy. They must still be able to access more traditional types of payment who serve these people. As long as the most vulnerable in our communities are able to access digital payments, their success is likely to soar.”