In 2016, UK shoppers used a mobile device to pay for an in-store transaction 38 million times, bringing the spend total to £288 million. Mobile contactless payments increased 247% over the last year as mobile wallet services including Apple Pay and Android Pay became more popular with consumers.
Research from Worldpay suggested supermarkets accounted for 54% of all mobile tap and pay transactions, while pubs and restaurants made up 20% of payments. Nearly 10% of mobile wallet payments took place in the pharmacy and beauty sector.