I did request a contactless card, they refused. I know of others who did get one.

All you have to do is drill through the aerial - if you shine a light through the card you can see the wire. It needs an LED with a shroud to avoid flare-out from direct light. The drill is best small like 1 mm. Not easy - I did contemplate it but got a metalised pocket for each.

With COVID it turned out the right decision. But I will carry cash as soon as I can get to a machine - ironically linked to a network, that some banks got wrong in a big way!