The contactless card payment limit will be increased by £15 to £45 from Wednesday to make paying for goods more hygienic amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The ‘tap and go’ limit is currently £30 but after increases in other parts of Europe as part of measures to stop the spread of the virus, the change will be introduced in the UK.
With the growing popularity of contactless payment, the industry was already considering an increase but the process was accelerated after the outbreak of Covid-19, as it means more payments can be made without the need to handle cash or touch a card machine.
Trade association UK Finance, which represents the finance and payments industry, said the decision to raise the limit was made following talks with the retail sector.
It is three times the amount it stood at originally, with ‘tap and go’ contactless cards initially having a limit of £10 in 2007.
This was increased to £15 in 2010, £20 in 2012 and to £30 in 2015.
However, not all card machines will have the latest limit this week as the software needs to be updated to accept the higher payment and the process will happen gradually.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has said while the new contactless limit will be operational at some stores across the UK from April 1, it may be some time before it can be applied more widely.
BRC head of payments policy Andrew Cregan said: ‘Some shops will take longer to make the necessary changes, given the strain they’re under.’
Some £80.5 billion was spent using contactless payments in 2019, UK Finance figures show, up by 16% on the previous year.
With a higher spend limit on contactless payments, people may also be concerned about security and fraud but according to UK Finance, contactless fraud equates to just 2.5p in every £100 spent using contactless technology.
It said contactless fraud on payment cards and devices represents just 3.3% of overall card fraud losses.
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