The use of contactless cards for small purchases is already supported by a surprising number of wireless communications terminals, says television presenter Jason Bradbury.
Bradbury, known to technology fans as a presenter on Five's The Gadget Show, points out the 7,221 contactless payment points within the M25 alone.
Nationwide, the wireless communications network for contactless payments consists of almost four times this number, at 27,000 terminals.
"This is a little bit of the future right now," says Bradbury, suggesting that the ability to hold the technology and see it in action helps to raise awareness of its benefits.
"It's evident to me that there needs to be something concrete for people to understand it," he explains.
Already, the inclusion of wireless communications on conventional credit and debit cards represents convergence of different technologies.
But Bradbury anticipates that this could evolve further, with mobile phones ultimately scanned for payments as is being developed in Korea and Japan.