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The nationwide rollout of a new £100 spending limit for contactless cards has started today (15 October).
Retailers across the UK will begin to accept contactless payments of up to £100, an increase from the previous £45 limit, which will reportedly give consumers “more flexibility” when shopping in-store.
According to UK Finance, the move aims to help with bigger purchases “where speed and convenience are valued”. However, the new £100 limit may not be available across all retailers immediately due to the number of terminals that need to be updated across businesses.
The move comes as contactless payments have become increasingly common. According to statistics, between January and July of this year, 60% of all debit and credit card transactions in the UK were made using contactless. This accounted for 6.6 billion payments in total, with a value of £81.4bn.
The decision to raise the contactless limit to £100 was made by HM Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority following a public consultation and extensive talks with both the retail and banking sectors.
The limit had previously increased from £30 to £45 in April 2020.
UK Finance said that customers will be fully protected against any losses due to unauthorised card fraud. The same in-built security check will apply, whereby after a certain amount of contactless spending or transactions have been made, a PIN will need to be entered.
David Postings, CEO of UK Finance, said: “The new £100 limit offers customers greater choice about how they pay for things like their weekly shop or a tank of fuel.
“Contactless payments have become increasingly popular, and the payments industry has worked hard to ensure retailers are able to offer customers the new higher limit.”
