Visa contactless cards circulation in UK will reach 12 mn by the end of 2010

It’s not a surprise Visa is expanding its business rapidly across the world.  Thus far, the volume of Visa contactless cards in use in the UK is to reach 12 million by the end of this year.

In June, Visa payWave cards in circulation in the UK passed the 8 million mark in June and this will continue to climb in 2010 as more banks introduce the functionality, according to the card scheme.

It’s important to note, the majority of the current payWave cards output can be attributed to Barclays' decision to issue contactless cards as standard for all UK customers. The bank has been promoting the cards through social media and traditional advertising channels, and working in collaboration with retailers to encourage user adoption.

And with 26,000 high street outlets already enabled for contactless, other banks, such as RBS, HSBC and Lloyds are expected to follow Barclays and step up their plans in the near future.

Interestingly, one of the factors fastening the deployment appeared to be the recent rise in the contactless transaction limit from £10 to £15.

As Visa reports, average transaction values on the cards currently runs at £4.30, with evidence emerging of an uptick in use among cardholders.