I don’t trust contactless cards... says Bank chief

A SENIOR Bank of England official has revealed she does not like to use contactless cards – because she doesn’t trust the technology.

Chief cashier Victoria Cleland, whose signature is on nearly every bank note in the country, prefers to pay with cash instead.

The 47-year-old also said electronic payments are not likely to spell the end of physical money any time soon, adding: ‘Cash is definitely here to stay.’

‘Tap and go’ payments saw a boom in popularity when the maximum limit for contactless transactions was raised to £30 in 2015. But Miss Cleland told The Guardian: ‘I personally don’t really use contactless.

‘To be blunt, it wasn’t on my card for a long time and so I’ve just got into the habit of preferring not to.

‘And I do hear stories of friends – this is a personal anecdote, this isn’t the official Bank view – whose money has been taken off contactless when you walk past something. And it’s only up to £30... So I use cash for lower transactions anyway and for big ones contactless wouldn’t work.’

Industry figures have revealed that spending on contactless cards more than trebled last year to £25billion as shoppers made almost eight million tap and go payments.

Separate figures show that in 2016 cash was used for just 44 per cent of consumer transactions – down from 50 per cent the previous year and 68 per cent a decade earlier.

But the amount of cash in circulation is at a record high and 2.7million Britons rely almost entirely on cash when making payments – a figure that has risen by 500,000 in two years. Miss Cleland continued: ‘There is a slowdown in cash used for consumer transactions.

‘But the value of notes in circulation has been increasing year on year for the past decade or so.’

Explaining that many people still prefer bank notes and coins to cards, she added: ‘Some people like it because it is quick and easy, and you don’t need to rely on technology.

‘Some people use it as a budgeting tool. Cash can be eked out if you are on a budget. Some people are worried by cyber crime and the idea that Big Brother is watching you.

‘When you spend £10 in cash you know the transaction is complete, it is not going to get lost somewhere in the system.’

Miss Cleland’s comments raised eyebrows among industry experts.

James Daley, of consumer group Fairer Finance, said: ‘It seems a bit strange that members of the senior management at the Bank of England don’t trust part of the payment system.’