Increase to €50 tap boosts contactless payment numbers

The latest contactless payments figures published by Banking and Payments Federation Ireland  showed that each day in February of this year, 1.6m contactless payments were made. File picture

More than €26m was spent daily by customers through contactless payments in February, representing a "substantial jump" in comparison with the same period last year, banking data has suggested.

The latest contactless payments figures published by Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) showed that each day in February of this year, 1.6m contactless payments were made.

“In February, we saw a total of 46.2m contactless payment made over the course of the month worth over €733m,” chief executive of the BPFI, Brian Hayes said on the key figures and trends.

The dramatic increase seen in the amount of money being spent through contactless forms of payment can be attributed to the impact of the higher transaction limit of €50 that was introduced last April. Picture: iStock

This was an increase of 6.5% in the number of payments when compared to the same time last year, and a “substantial jump” of 42% in terms of the money spent when to the same period in 2020.

The dramatic increase seen in the amount of money being spent through contactless forms of payment can be attributed to the impact of the higher transaction limit of €50 that was introduced last April.

“As a result of this change, we can see the average payment value rose from €11.92 in February 2020 to €15.88 a year later,” Mr Hayes added.

Shift from cash to digital

It also shows a shift from cash to digital, with a large number of shops and businesses preferring the use of contactless cards, due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

"Looking at the trends in daily contactless payments, there was an increase to 1.6m payments valued at €26.2m per day in February 2021, up from 1.5m payments valued at €18m a year earlier. 

"Furthermore, contactless payments accounted for an estimated one-third of the value of payments at the point of sale or in-store,” Mr Hayes said.

The contactless payment facility at a Clonakilty church.

He went on to add that the increases which were seen both in terms of the daily and monthly trends in this year, up until February, once again, highlights the popularity and growth in contactless payments.

“Particularly when you consider that the country has been in the midst of a level 5 lockdown this February, compared to a year ago when we were still living free of Covid restrictions of any sort. 

"This underlines the ongoing shift from cash to digital and the fundamental change in people’s behaviour which will undoubtedly continue beyond the current pandemic,” Mr Hayes said.

It comes as debit and credit card fraud losses amounted to €12.2m in the first half of 2020. These figures, also released by BPFI last week, show that in the same time period, there were more than 143,000 fraudulent payment card transactions recorded in the country.