Consumers are being warned that handing their card over for contactless payments leaves them at greater risk of fraud.

Anti-fraud campaigners have warned consumers that bar, restaurant or shop staff taking customer cards before taking a contactless card payment goes against best practice as laid out by the UK Cards Association. Debit cards in Ireland have a contactless payment limit of up to €30 per transaction, and many campaigners are warning that customers are at risk of having their details stolen. Andrew Goodwill, founder of the Goodwill group, which campaigns on fraud, told The Telegraph: "Customers are being made vulnerable to having their card skimmed [fraudulently copied] if they hand their card over, so they should refuse when asked to do this."

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Richard Koch, head of policy at the UK Cards Association, said customers should always keep hold of their card during payment. "That way customers have peace of mind as they keep in control, and it also speeds up the process for retailers too," he said. Guidelines also recommend that consumers are wary of "card clash", where multiple contactless card comes into contact with each other and cause issues with payment. Asking for a receipt on larger purchases has also been recommended. Last year in the UK alone, £7.75 billion was spent on contactless cards, an increase from £2.32 billion in 2014.