M6 Toll to trial contactless payments

The technology will be trialled in August and rolled out to all booths in the first quarter of 2012

The M6 Toll will provide a contactless payment service to drivers from February 2012.

This follows extensive work with Barclaycard.

The contactless service will initially be trialled on a single lane from this autumn, with the aim of rolling out the technology across all card accepting toll booths in the first quarter of 2012.

Contactless payments will allow users to pay for goods and services under £15 by simply holding their card on a reader without the need to enter a PIN or sign their name.

The technology is 52 per cent faster to transact than cash and 33 per cent quicker than chip and PIN payments, according to Barclaycard.

Richard Armstrong, head of Barclaycard UK Payment Acceptance, said of the partnership: "The contactless terminals at card payment lanes at the toll payment plazas will cut queues and help drivers avoid the potentially dangerous scrabble for change."

The M6 Toll was opened in December 2003 and has pioneered the acceptance of card payments at toll booths. The new deal with Barclaycard will see all card transactions managed by the payments business.

There are currently 11.4 million contactless-enabled Barclays debit and Barclaycard credit cards in circulation. There are many outlets that currently provide contactless payments as an option, including Little Chef, Prêt a Manger, Wembley Arena and EAT.