Bad faith
I can see that contactless payments offer benefits for retailers because they speed up transactions and reduce cash throughput. I suppose there's a benefit for card companies because they increase card throughput. But what's in it for me?
The BBC programme included these pathetic attempts at exculpation from a card company drone:
"If you lose cash, it's gone, but that's not the case with a card" (nothing to do with contactless payment).
"The most you can lose is £50" (I want a system where the most I can lose is zero).
OK, maybe the system is really secure, and the chance of error infinitesimal. But I don't want it, and I regard the card companies' refusal to issue cards without contactless payment as evidence of bad faith.