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Drivers include mobile payment services and wearables.
Credit card provider Visa Europe said 3 billion contactless transactions were made across Europe on Visa cards and payment-enabled devices in the year to 30th April 2016.
In its latest market report, the company said the strong growth since last April has been significant, with the number of transactions increasing from 143 million in April 2015 to 360 million in April 2016.
The average transaction values have also risen by 12% from €12.29 last April to €13.83 today. The company said the growth has been driven by several factors including rising adoption of mobile NFC payments, such as with Apple Pay.
The appetite for such services has also grown among Europe’s largest merchants. The company noted that this is especially the case with supermarkets: Carrefour, Lidl, Tesco and Poland’s Biedronka have all introduced or increased the use of contactless payments in their stores.
Other drivers include the adoption of contactless payment technology by transport companies such as Transport for London as well as by new and different types of merchants.
Furthermore, wearables like Apple Watch, Barclaycard’s bPay or CaixaBank’s Pulsera are also providing alternative methods for contactless payment.
