Findings from ICM Research recently published reveals that despite high consumer awareness, little retailer support means Christmas 2012 will not be contactless.

Being able to simply wave your card over a reader cuts down queuing time, which benefits both shoppers and retailers at one of the busiest shopping times of the year. Another is that you don’t need cash, and in the last month a quarter of us have not bought an item because we didn’t have enough cash on us. So why aren’t more retailers using contactless payment?

Useage is currently low, with less than a third (32%) of those that have a contactless payment card using it at all. And when they do use it, its infrequently – just over one in ten (12%) buy something this way weekly or more often – with half (51%) spending £10 (~$16 USD) or less on their most recent transaction.

Retailers must do more to promote contactless payment. Of the 26 high street stores visited during mystery shopping in this research, less than half offered contactless payments, and of those, only three were actively promoting the capability. Sales assistants spoken to in-store didn’t even know if the shop took contactless payments, and over a quarter gave out the wrong information on payment limits.

Four in ten respondents said that if the shops they visited most often offered contactless payment, they would use it more.