Card tapping has surged 30% in the past year and nearly half of all UK store payments were contactless, according to research.

Payment processor, Worldpay, predicts that UK shoppers could spend up to £38.5bn via contactless transactions in the last six months of 2018.

It said part of this growth comes from the rise in the use of mobile wallets, such as Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Google Pay, which has gone up 114% in the past year.

Clothing and footwear retailers saw the greatest shift from chip and pin to contactless – a 415% increase year-on-year. But mobile contactless payments rose by more – almost 500%.

Department stores and betting shops also saw an increase of between 150%-250%.

Worldpay said mobile contactless payments could pave the way for phones to replace wallets over the next decade as users cited the convenience and security of ‘limitless’ contactless payments.

But 65% of consumers said they’d be happy to increase the contactless purchase amount from £30 to £50.

Steve Newton, executive vice president at Worldpay, said: “The data clearly shows that shoppers are moving towards more convenient forms of payment. This aligns to what we’re seeing in a number of sectors: time-poor consumers want instant access to their goods. The popularity of online shopping, mobile payments and click-and-collect is testament to this.

“The rise of contactless is part of a bigger story: it’s not simply about tap and go – it’s about convenience and reducing the parts of the shopping experience that customers find irritating, like queuing and waiting to pay. With the added benefit ‘limitless’ transactions and biometric security offered by mobile wallets, our smart phones could be the key to the next frontier of frictionless commerce.”