A new publication by the British Banking Association (BBA) has estimated that consumers taking advantage of contactless cards have together saved over 90 years of time since they were introduced! The publication says that on average it takes half a second to “wave and pay” by contactless card, while it takes seven seconds to pay by chip and PIN. Figures from the UK Cards Association show there were 452,912,149 contactless transactions from the period that contactless payment was introduced, up until the end of 2014. The figures mean that 93.6 years have been saved when paying over this period!
A new BBA publication, ‘The Benefits of Banking’ also says there are now 215,380 places to pay with a contactless card at terminals supplied by banks, and that the average contactless transaction is worth £8.26. Fifty-eight million contactless cards had been issued by the end of 2014. The publication also indicates that:
- Banking is the UK’s biggest export industry – in 2014 banking industry imports stood at £3.4 billion, but the industry exported services worth £28 billion
- £185 billion was lent by banks to 1.3 million homeowners in 2014 – the highest annual mortgage amount since the financial crisis
- Private banking and wealth management contributes £5 billion to Britain’s economy each year – the same as a city the size of Brighton and Hove.
Commenting on the publication, BBA Chief Executive Anthony Browne, said:
“Banking brings huge benefits to us all – helping us to buy our first home or smaller things, like paying our bills on time. It is also this country’s biggest export earner, creating jobs across the country. Banks innovative new ideas like contactless cards are helping customers – saving them time and hassle”.
The BBA publication suggests that technology is changing all of our lives and banking is no different. Banks are investing billions, responding to the wishes of customers who want new and easier ways to pay for things and do their banking.
