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The limit on contactless payments in Great Britain could be raised from £45 to £100 as Britain steps away from EU rules.
The idea was raised to the Treasury by UK Finance, a City lobby group, who said the move would also help reduce contact during the coronavirus pandemic amid a new record high in infections.
It comes after the limit was raised from £30 in March last year after the UK reached its first peak. When “tap and go” contactless cards were first introduced in 2007, they had a limit of £10.
This was increased to £15 in 2010, £20 in 2012 and £30 in 2015. Last year, the European Commission agreed to increase it to £45 or €50 to reduce cash transactions during the crisis.
Retailers are charged at the same rate for chip and pin payments as they are for contactless – which means an increase is unlikely to have a knock on effect on the high street.
Updating the programming of card machines to accept the new limit can also be done remotely – but with hundreds of thousands of terminals in the UK, the updating process happens gradually, UK Finance said.
The proportion of debit card payments made using contactless reached its highest level in September, accounting for 64% of all debit card transactions and 46% of credit card transactions in the UK, according to UK Finance.
But while there are fears a rise in plastic could lead to an increase in fraud, UK Finance said contactless fraud equates to just 2.5p in every £100 spent.
It said contactless fraud on payment cards and devices represents just 3.3% of overall card fraud losses.
Eric Leenders, managing director of Personal Finance, UK Finance, said: “September saw the proportion of contactless debit card payments hit a record high for the second month in a row, rising to 64% of total transactions in August.
“The value of overall contactless spending was also up by over 18% compared to the same period last year, as consumers made further use of the increased £45 contactless spending limit”
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