LONDON—Mobile payments are rising rapidly in the U.K.
A new report from Worldpay shows that the number of mobile transactions as a percentage of all in-store transactions has grown by 247% in the U.K. over the last year.
The main drivers of the mobile payments increase: workers paying for lunch on the go and payments for drinks in bars.
“Lunchtime ‘meal deal’ hotspots, including supermarkets and grocery stores, accounted for 54% of all mobile tap and pay transactions processed by Worldpay in 2016,” the company told NFC World. “Pubs, bars and restaurants made up 20% of the total.”
What also led to the quick increase, noted NFC World, is the launch of Android Pay in the U.K. in September 2016.
Overall, Worldpay reports that a total of 38 million contactless transactions were conducted using a mobile device in 2016 with the total amount spent topping £288 million (US$358 million). That still represents just 1.18% of all in-store payments, the company noted, but “adoption rates suggest the technology is quickly gaining a foothold in the ‘tap and pay’ market.”