Trade association UK Finance said 33% of all spending on plastic was settled with a tap instead of a swipe in May, almost double that of last year's 18%.
There was a particular rise in travel-related purchases, such as foreign currency exchanges and airport terminals.
A total of £4.5bn was spent through contactless payments in May.
Total plastic card spending was £57.2bn on both credit and debit cards.
Compared with last May, people spent more on debit cards at £40.6bn, up from £37.9bn the year before.
Credit card purchases increased to £16.6bn from £15.2bn.
More than a third of all card payments are now contactless, according to new figures.