Transport for London introduced contactless payments in September 2014

Nearly half a million contactless payment terminals have been installed in British retailers, enabling near-instant payment without verifying the sale with a PIN or signature. “From here on, every acceptance device that’s ever installed or upgraded will be contactless as standard,” said Mr Jenkins.

Some shops such as Boots and Costa Coffee already offer contactless sales across the country. However, the supermarkets have been slower to adopt the new technology, in part because the limit on each contactless transaction is just £30, less than half the £66 average weekly household food bill.

Morrisons, which brought in contactless payments last March, said customers were now using this method for 21pc of transactions below the £30 limit.

A spokeswoman for Sainsbury’s said the firm is looking to launch contactless payment methods this year. The firm is also experimenting with mobile scanning to avoid customers unpacking and repacking their groceries at the tills.

Overall, paying on plastic has continued to grow in popularity, with Visa’s UK transactions rising 11.5pc, boosted by the explosion in online retail as well as contactless. The firm said that despite a difficult Christmas for many retailers, every day in December 2015 brought more card transactions than its single busiest online shopping day in 2012.