Almost a third of shoppers 'don't trust' contactless technology

The number of contactless transactions taking place in the UK has trebled since the limit was increased from £20 to £30 last September, but many shoppers still refuse to use the technology.

According to a study by business intelligence research consultancy Future Thinking, 31% of shoppers said they never used contactless because they didn’t trust it.

A further 14% said they didn’t pay by contactless because their cards weren’t enabled, while the same percentage of respondents said they didn’t know if their cards allowed them to pay for goods via contactless terminals.

The survey of 2,315 consumers revealed that 27% of people pay by contactless, but think the current £30 spending limit is the maximum it should be. Just 9% said they used the technology and wanted the limit to continue increasing in the future.

Of the shoppers who said they did not trust contactless technology, 43% were over the age of 65, while a much lower proportion, 22%, were under 35.

Future Thinking senior research director Noreen Kinsey said: “It is clear from recent figures that there has been a huge increase in the number of purchases using contactless technology. This reflects consumer desires for quicker payment methods and increased convenience.

“As with all new technologies there is still some reluctance towards this, particularly among older age groups, who may be further isolated as we move towards mobile pay and other tech-enabled purchase solutions.”