Over 120 million transactions are lost each year due to a lack of card processing facilities, a new report has revealed.

According to Judo, a mobile phone card payment service provider, UK retailers are losing out by not offering the opportunity for consumers to pay by card.

Its research revealed that 21% of consumers have left a store in the past six months without making a purchase because it did not take cards, while 19% avoided the store altogether because they knew it would not take a card. London retailers are most likely to miss out due to lack of card payment services, with 50% of consumers having left a shop that they could not use a card in.

Younger consumers were identified as embracing the technology more, with 59% of 18-24 year-olds admitting to walking out of a shop because they could not pay by card.

The research identified an opportunity for bigger basket spend, with 61% of consumers saying they would spend more in a store that took cards while no respondent said they would spend less.

Dennis Jones, chief executive officer of Judo, said that many smaller retailers did not take cards because “card payment equipment has not kept pace with technology and is too expensive and complicated”.