Watford is one of the places leading the way in going cashless as more people in the town use contactless cards during the coronavirus pandemic.

New data shows 79 per cent of people have been making transactions through contactless cards in Watford between March and September this year.

This puts Watford in the top 10 list of places with the highest uptake of contactless credit and debit cards across the UK, with the town placing seventh in the list.

The data, by Paymentsense, also shows the number of contactless card transactions this year are nine per cent higher than what they were in 2019.

Meanwhile, neighbouring St Albans had the highest number of people using contactless cards in the UK during the pandemic.

A total of 86 per cent of people used the method, this being 19 per cent higher than last year.

Jon Knott, Head of Customer Insight at Paymentsense, said: “Coronavirus has undoubtedly forced change in our lives and shopping habits. As more businesses refuse cash as a precaution against Covid, it makes perfect sense that the use of contactless cards are on the up this year, more than ever. 

“Our findings confirm that major cities are transitioning to a cashless society at a rapid pace. However, as we’ve seen with St. Albans it isn’t just the UK’s big cities going cash free; smaller towns are increasingly choosing contactless methods. With the pandemic ongoing, it seems that a cashless Britain may be here sooner than we thought.”