Federal Reserve data is more comprehensive than those of credit card providers but has a slight reporting delay. Its estimates show that contactless card payments grew more than fivefold from 2018 to 2020—when COVID-19 precautions ramped up throughout the U.S. Much of that growth happened in 2020, despite a decline in overall in-person card payments as fewer people ventured outside to make purchases.

Contactless payments were especially popular from July through September of 2020 when restrictions began to lift in some areas. The relatively novel offering to U.S. consumers limited germ spread as people ventured out of their quarantine bubbles. Some stores rolled out contactless payments specifically in response to the pandemic.

As card payments overall declined but contactless grew, the payment method also grew its share of in-person payments by 3.8 percentage points, reaching nearly six times its original share.

While U.S. contactless payment adoption is growing, it still trails much of the world. Mobile wallets have been gaining traction for a decade in Asia and for a few years elsewhere. Visa tap payments outside the U.S. have reached nearly 3 in 4 in-person transactions. These days, many non-U.S. establishments will only accept tap payments and have used contactless as a default for years. Riding the tail winds of the pandemic, the U.S. may reach that level of near-ubiquity soon.

Data reporting by Paxtyn Merten. Story editing by Jeff Inglis. Copy editing by Tim Bruns. Photo selection by Clarese Moller.