UK retailer Marks & Spencer has detailed the number of its outlets where contactless payments are now possible, as well as giving some statistics on the level of take-up.

Most notably, the company said around one in seven, or 14 per cent, of card transactions under £20 are by shoppers tapping their credit or debit card (or NFC smartphone) against a payment terminal.

M&S said contactless payments are now possible at 644 of its UK stores and that it is currently processing over 230,000 such transactions every week.

The figures are supplied by Visa although the terminals in M&S also handle contactless payments from rival cards, such as MasterCard.

The retailer claims the statistics “cement” its position as the UK’s leading contactless retailer.

Unsurprisingly, the service is particularly popular with customers who want to buy food quickly at lunch times. One quarter of contactless payments were processed at self checkout points in the retailer’s Food Halls.

M&S last summer conducted a trial of contactless technology in 25 London stores.

The retailer is also looking at other technologies for mobile payments, including a barcode scanning system supplied by a UK company called Paddle.

London stores have the highest level of contactless transactions but it is also on the rise in Manchester, Croydon and Reading.

The retailer cited M&S Finsbury Pavement, a branch in London’s business district which attracts many officer workers at lunchtime, where about one in three of its card transactions under £20 are contactless.