Contactless payments have crossed a critical threshold. What began two decades ago in the UK with a £10 spending cap and sparse merchant adoption has become the dominant way people pay — accounting for 62.6 per cent of all UK transactions, according to data from global integrated payment provider Paynt. Now, payment networks including Europay, Mastercard, Visa, and Apple Pay are racing to replicate that growth in emerging markets across Latin America and beyond. But as contactless payments become the global norm, they are reshaping consumer behaviour in unexpected ways — and drawing fresh scrutiny over the security risks they introduce.
The Apple Pay Express Transit vulnerability
Researchers from the University of Birmingham and the University of Surrey identified a significant vulnerability affecting iPhone users who set a Visa card as their Express Transit payment option in Apple Wallet. Express Transit is designed to let commuters tap through ticket barriers without unlocking their phone or confirming a payment — a convenience that turns out to have a serious security flaw.
Using off-the-shelf radio equipment, the researchers were able to trick an iPhone into believing it was communicating with a transit gate, activating Express Transit mode. In reality, the signal was being relayed wirelessly via an Android device to a third-party contactless payment terminal. The attack requires no interaction from the victim and can be executed in seconds in any public space where an iPhone user might be carrying their device.
The vulnerability sits at the intersection of two design choices — Apple's always-on Express Transit mode and Visa's contactless payment protocol — and illustrates the hidden risks that emerge when convenience is prioritised over security. Apple and Visa have disputed responsibility for the flaw, and as of the time of writing no permanent fix has been deployed for affected devices.
Contactless payments are transforming tipping culture
Beyond security, contactless payment technology is quietly rewriting the social contract around tipping. Paynt analysed one million transactions processed through its integrated tipping app, URocked, in the UK between June 2024 and February 2026. The findings reveal a striking behavioural shift: the average tip value nearly tripled, rising from £4.87 to £14.39, while the proportion of customers who tipped at all fell from approximately 10.9 per cent to 5.5 per cent.
In other words, fewer people are tipping — but those who do are tipping far more generously. The data points to a polarisation driven in part by digital payment flows, where card terminals prompt customers with pre-set tip amounts such as 12.5 per cent or 15 per cent, creating social pressure at the point of transaction.
"This data highlights a clear shift in tipping behaviour across the UK hospitality sector. More importantly, it shows how payment methods are increasingly shaping customer behaviour at the point of transaction. While fewer customers are tipping, those who do are showing greater generosity, suggesting a shift in how and when people engage with tipping," says Swati Deshpande, marketing manager at Paynt.
Tipflation: a global phenomenon
The UK trend mirrors a broader global pattern that economists and consumer researchers have labelled "tipflation" or "tip creep." In the United States, the expected tip percentage has climbed steadily for decades. During the 1950s, a 10 per cent tip was the norm. By the 1970s and 1980s, that had risen to 15 per cent. By May 2022, a survey by CreditCards.com found the average American tip had reached 21 per cent — and today, tips of 30 per cent or more are not uncommon in US restaurants and service businesses.
American tipping culture received a significant legislative boost in 2026 with the passage of the No Tax on Tips provision. Beginning with the 2025 tax year — for returns filed in 2026 — eligible workers can deduct up to $25,000 in reported tip income from their federal taxable income. Although the deduction is framed around cash tips, the IRS treats tips received via credit cards and electronic payment platforms the same as cash for tax purposes, meaning digital tipping flows directly benefit from the new law. Partly as a result, American consumers increasingly find themselves prompted to tip for non-service interactions such as counter service and retail purchases.
Payment design shapes behaviour
The Paynt data raises a broader question for retailers and hospitality businesses: if the payment experience itself drives discretionary spending decisions, how much responsibility do payment providers bear for the outcomes?
"As contactless payments become the dominant payment method, businesses need to consider how the payment experience influences discretionary actions such as tipping," says Deshpande.
The shift is not purely about generosity or social pressure. Pre-set tip prompts on contactless terminals systematically anchor customers to higher amounts, while the frictionless nature of tap-to-pay removes the psychological pause that handling cash once provided. The result is a payment environment in which consumer choices are increasingly mediated — and shaped — by the technology itself.
For cybersecurity professionals and regulators, the contactless payments story presents a dual challenge: addressing the technical vulnerabilities that expose users to fraud, while also grappling with the subtler ways in which payment design nudges behaviour at scale. Both deserve closer attention as contactless becomes the default mode of exchange worldwide.