The contactless payment revolution continues to grow as monthly payments reached £45.2m in June of this year, a five-fold year-on-year increase on the previous year.

According to Visa Europe, UK consumers made 51 million contactless payments in the past year and the average contactless payment spend was £6.65.

Visa Europe vice-president head of contactless Mark Austin said: “We are delighted to see the technology now being used so frequently as consumers become confident in making every day contactless payments.”

However, a WorldPay survey recently revealed that while 60% of consumers now recognise the contactless symbol, only 10% of shoppers nationally have ever used it, although this rises to 17% in London. Of those 10% who have used it, however, 93% found it “quick and efficient”.

And although 61% of respondents said it felt secure, the WorldPay report did highlight consumer concerns that they didn’t want to compromise security for hyper-convenience.

As contactless payments grow, cash payments are starting to dwindle. A Payments Council report predicts that cash payments will fall from £21bn in 2012 to £14bn in 2022 as consumers use card payments more often. The UK Payment Markets 2013 report forecasts that consumer card use will rise by 75% over the next nine years and payments through mobile phones will increase from 356 million transactions in 2012 to 1.5 billion in 2022.

Payments Council chief executive Adrian Kamellard said that although new payment formats continue to grow, the traditional methods shouldn’t be overlooked. “We need to make sure we don’t lose sight of tried and trusted payment methods.”