Diners 'annoyed' by restaurants failing to offer contactless payment

That's according to new research from Barclaycard, which found that contactless spending in restaurants has increased by 51 per cent since the limit rose from £20 to £30 in September.

The number of diners paying for meals by the touch and go method rose by 62 per cent in fast food outlets and a whopping 92 per cent in pubs and bars over the same period.

Barclaycard said it expected 2016 to be a ‘record breaking year’ for contactless payments, with one in 10 card transactions now contactless and total spend nearing £1bn a month. 

However, the company warned that retailers that were slow to implement the technology risked frustrating customers.

Two thirds of businesses still don’t accept touch and go payments despite diners increasingly viewing technology as a necessity rather than a novelty.​

Barclaycard said that 58 per cent of businesses surveyed reported a rise in customers paying using mobile and wearable tech, and 19 per cent of customers admitting to being 'annoyed’ if they were unable to pay contactlessly 

Paul Lockstone, Managing Director at Barclaycard said: “In 2015 we’ve seen contactless become an even more popular way to pay for small transactions, so much so that we can even get frustrated if a retailer doesn’t offer ‘touch and go’ as an option. 

“The consumer trend towards contactless is only set to increase, with our data showing that time pressed shoppers don’t like to hang around – there’s a real opportunity for UK retailers to step-in and meet this growing consumer demand.”