Contactless card payments will increase by £15 to £45 from tomorrow in bid to combat coronavirus as it will limit use of cash and reduce number of shoppers inputting PIN
- Maximum contactless payment will rise by £15 to £45 on Wednesday
- It comes as a Co-Op in Derbyshire encouraged shoppers not to use cash
- UK shoppers spent £80.5 billion using contactless payments in 2019
- Gradual release means not all shops will have new limit come Wednesday
The most shoppers can pay via contactless on their cards is set to rise tomorrow (Wednesday)
Shoppers will be able to pay £45 for transaction without entering a PIN number. The rise comes as the coronavirus pandemic has seen some shops encourage customers to ditch cash.
When 'tap and go' contactless cards first came out in 2007, they had a limit of £10.
Contactless card holders could pay no more than £10 in 2007, 13 years on they will be able to pay up to £45 from Wednesday. Stock picture
This was increased to £15 in 2010, £20 in 2012 and to £30 in 2015.
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 follows similar increases recently made elsewhere in Europe.
An increased limit was already being considered but the process has been accelerated as part of the industry's response to Covid-19.
People will not be able to make contactless card payments of up to £45 in all the shops that remain open from Wednesday.
Share this article
The software on card payment machines will be updated to accept the new £45 limit but UK Finance said with hundreds of thousands of terminals in the UK, the updating process will happen gradually.
The British Retail Consortium's 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.
Allowing people to tap and go on higher value card transactions may also spark concerns about fraud.
But according to UK Finance, contactless fraud equates to just 2.5p in every £100 spent using contactless technology.
A Co-Op store in Derbyshire was encouraging shoppers to pay by contactcless card to try and prevent the spread of the coronavirus
It said contactless fraud on payment cards and devices represents just 3.3% of overall card fraud losses.
Linda Ellett, UK head of consumer markets at KPMG, said: 'Even prior to the crisis, consumers have been adopting new technologies like contactless, changing the consumer landscape at large.
'But in the same way we are focusing on the vulnerable in society in other ways, there are also those who aren't perhaps as adaptive to these new technologies and need to be front of mind.
'The Government's decision to further restrict social interaction will also no doubt lead to more consumers turning online, another area where some will be less comfortable and at risk.
'We therefore encourage business and Government to combine these positive changes with helpful advice to educate and protect shoppers.'
Most watched News videos
- New video shows Epstein laughing and chasing young women
- British Airways passengers turn flight into a church service
- Epstein describes himself as a 'tier one' sexual predator
- Skier dressed as Chewbacca brutally beaten in mass brawl
- Buddhist monks in Thailand caught with a stash of porn
- Two schoolboys plummet out the window of a moving bus
- Melinda Gates says Bill Gates must answer questions about Epstein
- Police dog catches bag thief who pushed woman to the floor
- Sarah Ferguson 'took Princesses' to see Epstein after prison
- Holly Valance is shut down by GB News for using slur
- China unveils 'Star Wars' warship that can deploy unmanned jets
- JD Vance turns up heat on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
