Barclaycard is developing technology that could put an end to the supermarket queue by allowing shoppers to charge in-store purchases to their mobile phone.

The smartphone app automatically charges items to a credit card when shoppers scan items using the phone’s camera, without them having to pay at a checkout.

Barclays workers are trialling the service at the company’s Canary Wharf headquarters, and the company says a high-street retailer is set to pilot it in the next year.

Usman Sheikh, Barclaycard’s director of design and experimentation, who is leading the project, said it was already speaking to a number of “significant household names”, including supermarkets, about the “Grab and Go” technology.

It would allow shoppers to walk into a store, scan each item in their basket with the phone, and check out virtually as they leave, without having to queue for a till. While Waitrose operates a “Quick Check” service that lets shoppers scan items as they shop, they must still go through a till to pay.