Only eight per cent of smartphone owners have – or are aware of having – NFC technology available on their handset, according to eDigitalResearch.

Not great, but its a start, especially given that number has doubled over the past six months, with the May edition of the research finding only four per cent had handsets capable of contactless payments.

Of those that do have the capability, 52 per cent have made a contactless payment from their device – up from 44 per cent in May. Three quarters of these were repeat users, suggesting that once consumers use the technology, they are likely to return and use it again.

“Our results show that, whilst awareness of contactless mobile payments is on the increase, 30 per cent of the consumers that we surveyed don’t think that there are any benefits to the technology whatsoever,” said eDigitalResearch head of research Derek Eccleston. “For example, while you can use the technology to swiftly pay for goods in coffee shops, customers still need to wait exactly the same amount of time for the coffee and the end result. It is essential that retailers, handset manufacturers, banks and technology provider’s work together to communicate these benefits better to potential users and quash growing concerns amongst consumers”.