When I speak to businesses about contactless protection, I do not begin by asking what they want to buy. I begin with a more revealing question: where do they believe their responsibility to the customer ends?
For many organisations, cyber responsibility is framed around systems, passwords, databases, authentication and incident response. Those priorities are essential. Yet customers experience digital systems through physical objects too: bank cards, travel credentials, access cards, passports, hotel keys and mobile wallets.
Contactless is now ordinary infrastructure. UK Finance reports that 19.2 billion contactless debit and credit card payments were made in the UK in 2025, worth £311 billion. Contactless represented 67 per cent of credit-card and 76 per cent of debit-card transactions, while the average transaction was just under £18. [1] When a behaviour is this established, guidance around it is part of the everyday customer experience rather than a specialist side issue.
That does not mean businesses should frighten customers. UK Finance describes the contactless fraud rate as very low and confirms that existing protection from unauthorised fraud remains in place. [1] A trusted approach acknowledges that evidence before discussing the avoidable friction that can still arise from loss, theft, card clash, accidental payment or a poorly planned backup.
Transport for London offers a useful example of practical education. It tells passengers to keep Oyster cards and contactless bank cards separate and to use the same card or device throughout a journey. [2] The message is specific, proportionate and connected to an outcome customers understand: paying the right fare.
A bank, retailer, airline, hotel, employer or membership organisation can apply the same principle. It can help people understand what each credential does, how it should be carried, what protection can and cannot do, and what action to take if something is lost. The value is not a dramatic promise. It is clearer behaviour.
This is where I see a role for the Blocktek Cyber Safety Toolkit. A business can select the relevant shielded format, combine it with concise education and give customers a practical reminder that physical and digital safety support each other. The product becomes a useful part of customer care rather than an isolated promotional item.
The first buying question, therefore, may not be “What does it cost?” It may be “Which part of our customer journey are we willing to help customers manage—and which part have we assumed is entirely their problem?”
Rob Rostron
Owner and Managing Director
Blocktek Ltd
