One-touch payments have seen a 97% rise in Europe since the beginning of 2018 as compared to the same period of time last year.

Banki.ru reports citing Mastercard data that contactless transactions make more than half of all card payments in over 15 European countries, including Denmark, Croatia, Greece, Hungary and the Netherlands.

In Russia, the share of contactless payments via card or smartphone in all transactions has already reached 50% since the start of the year.


One of the main industries motivating the expansion of contactless payments across Europe is transport. The number of passengers using this method to pay the fare is steadily growing. Paying the fare with bank cards is possible in over 50 Russian cities at the moment.

“Europe leads by the amount of contactless payments. Regardless of the state of economy and status of development of the countries individually, consumers in all markets are equally open to using contactless technology. We can see more often now European countries introducing new technologies more actively as soon as consumers begin to trust them,” said Javier Perez, President at Mastercard Europe.

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