Contactless card limit to rise to £100 from £45 on October 15

SHOPPERS will be able to make contactless payments of up to £100 from October 15.

The contactless limit was increased from £30 to £45 at the start of last year as the coronavirus pandemic began to spread across the UK.

1

Now UK Finance has confirmed when the rise will happen.

David Postings, chief executive of UK Finance, said: “Contactless payment has proved very popular with consumers and an increasing number of transactions are being made using contactless technology.

“The increase in the limit to £100 will allow people to pay for higher value transactions like their weekly shop or filling up their car with fuel.”

UK Finance warned that it could take “some time” for the new £100 limit to be rolled out across all retailers.

Alternatives like Apple Pay or Google Pay do not have a limit and are authorised by biometric technologies, like fingerprint or facial recognition.

In February we explained how the city watchdog – the Financial Conduct Authority – had revealed a rise was being considered.

The regulator said: “Since the limit for contactless card payments was raised to £45 last April at the start of the pandemic, people are increasingly making use of contactless payments.

“It’s important that payments regulation keeps pace with consumer and merchant expectations.”

Shops have encouraged customers to pay with a contactless card throughout the pandemic.

Contactless payments also mean shoppers avoid having to touch the card reader and it minimises queuing time to help with social distancing.

Cash use has plummeted as people turn to paying in this covid-secure way.

Supermarkets are among many shops which have urged people to pay with cards rather than cash during the pandemic.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk