Barclays and Barclaycard, the leaders in contactless payments in the UK, have welcomed the announcement that RBS and MasterCard are to trial contactless payments in Boots stores across London and Liverpool.

Research undertaken by Barclaycard shows that consumer demand for contactless payments is on the rise, with 98 per cent of contactless cardholders believing that contactless payments are easy to use and 88 per cent claiming it cut down the amount of time it would normally take them to buy a coffee*.

Amer Sajed, Managing Director of UK Cards at Barclaycard comments: “Contactless is the future of payments and we are pleased to see that other card issuers and retailers are following our lead in the market. Consumer feedback highlights the increasing demand for contactless payments and we hope other retailers will follow Boots and introduce contactless payment facilities in store in our continuing aim to achieve a contactless Britain.”

Since launching contactless payments with the introduction of Barclaycard OnePulse in September 2007, Barclays and Barclaycard have led the way in introducing contactless technology, including plans for payments via mobile phone to be available on the mass market by 2012. There are now almost two million contactless enabled Barclaycard’s and half a million Barclays debit cards on the market, including all new and re-issued Barclaycard OnePulse, Barclaycard Platinum, Barclaycard Goldfish, and Barclays Visa and Premier Visa debit cards.

The success of Barclays and Barclaycard’s contactless technology is grounded in the fact that Barclaycard has the highest market share of contactless terminals in the UK. Barclaycard has thousands of live terminals accepting contactless payments throughout the UK, including well-known brands such as Prêt A Manger, Coffee Republic, EAT, and Yo! Sushi.

Contactless allows customers to purchase items of £10 and under without the need to enter a PIN or sign.