Are the new best credit cards in the UK the ones that don’t have to be swiped? Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds, and Citibank think they might be, and they’re hoping more consumers will realise the benefits of these credit cards that work with only a quick wave in front of a scanner.

Powered by a radio frequency ID (RFID) chip, Visa’s PayWave credit cards are growing in popularity, with more than 8 million issued by mid-2010. Visa expects the number to top 12 million by the end of the year. While the majority of the distribution of contactless credit cards has been through replacement of existing credit cards, increasing merchant acceptance of the technology and increasing user interest may push the sector toward a “tipping point” by the end of 2010, leading to millions of contact-free transactions.

Merchant acceptance and consumer usage of contactless credit cards is mostly confined to the London area, and represents less than 3% of the total million-plus point of sale terminals installed. But since this type of card is best suited to places where purchase speed is critical, the technology doesn’t have to dominate to be successful. Though a Datamonitor survey from June 2010 showed that only 3.5% of consumers have and use a contactless card, 37.5% of consumers state that they do not have one but are interested in acquiring one.