The global coronavirus pandemic appears set to fundamentally alter the way people pay for good and services, with separate studies predicting significant growth for contactless as physical contact is increasingly avoided in the retail environment.

A new report for ResearchandMarkets says the UK is leading the way globally, with contactless payments predicted to surge to $1.2 billion by 2025, up from $460 million in 2018.

Seven out of every 10 account holders in the country already use online banking, with cash payments continuously decreasing as a result – approximately 62% of the total payments in 2006 were made through cash, which reduced to 40% 2016 and in 2026, with the report estimating the number will fall to 21% by 2026.

As such, the report says financial institutions are trying to enhance security and handling of payment operations with the support of technologies such as NFC, which are being integrated into stores, product and service outlets, BFSI institutions, and others.

Cashless mobile payments are being facilitated for the most part by services including Amex Pay, Apple Pay, Barclays Contactless Mobile, Google Pay and Samsung Pay. According to the Faster Payment Organisation, in October 2017 the UK reported 152.6 million digital transactions and from October 2017 to September 2018, 1.9 billion.

Meanwhile, a study by Merchant Machine has revealed the most cashless societies across Europe, by analysing publicly available data from 15 countries and ranking them by the percentage of contactless payments, the number of ATMs per 1,000 adults, debit card ownership and a bespoke ‘digital readiness ranking’. These handy infographics explain all, and a full table breakdown can be found here: