The spending limit on each use of a contactless card has now risen from £45 to £100 – but not every shop will accept the new payment threshold, as reported by the BBC.
Retailers say it could take months to update terminals before every shopper can spend up to £100, without the need to enter a Pin.
The move aims to make purchases such as grocery shopping more convenient.
But some warn it could lead to a rise in theft and one bank boss questioned whether shoppers want a higher limit.
When contactless card payments were introduced in 2007, the transaction limit was set at £10 and designed as an alternative to small change.
The limit was raised gradually, to £15 in 2010, to £20 in 2012, and then to £30 in 2015. It was hurriedly increased to £45 last year as the pandemic accelerated a move away from cash.
Some 60% of debit and credit card transactions in the UK were contactless in the first seven months of the year. These accounted for a total of 6.6 billion payments with a value of £81bn.
“It may take days, weeks, or even months for some retailers to make the necessary changes in their systems so that the new limit can take effect,” said Andrew Cregan, payments policy adviser at the British Retail Consortium.
“Furthermore, some retailers may choose not to adopt the new contactless limit. As a result, customers will need to take care when making payments to check what the maximum contactless limit is for individual stores.”
Image source: N26
