Contactless payment limit increased to £45

The spending limit for contactless payments has been increased from £30 to £45, prompted by an increase in interest due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Similar increases have been carried out across Europe, and the changes has been made following consultation with finance, payments and retail industries in the UK. More customers have chosen to use contactless payments in recent weeks due to concerns over hygiene during the Covid-19 outbreak.

From 1st April, retailers will begin rolling out the increased £45 limit for contactless payments although there may be a lag in introduction given some of the staffing pressures faced by many organisations at this time.

Stephen Jones, CEO of UK Finance, said:

“The payments industry has been working closely with retailers to be able to increase the contactless payment limit to help customers with their shopping at this critical time for the country.

“This will give more people the choice to opt for the speed and convenience of purchasing goods using their contactless card, helping to cut queues at the checkout.

“The industry continues to work closely with the government and regulators to support customers impacted by Covid-19 and ensure that they can pay in a way that suits them.”

For payments of over £45, these can still be made with no physical contact using mobile payments which have no upper limit when authenticated biometrically such as through fingerprint recognition.