Contactless £100 limit set to be scrapped in major change to payments

By HELEN KIRRANE

Updated: 14:46 BST, 9 May 2025

 The Financial Conduct Authority is reviewing whether the £100 contactless payment limit should be removed or increased – and today is your last chance to have your say on the plans. 

The cap on contactless card payments could be scrapped, meaning shoppers would be able to spend more money without having to use their PIN

As part of the consultation process, the FCA sought views from the public and businesses on the changes it is considering for the contactless payment limit. 

The deadline to submit a response is today, 9 May, bringing the consulatation to a close. The financial regulator first announced the plans in January.

Currently, contactless payments are limited to purchases of up to £100.

However, with food inflation soaring and the cost of supermarket shops going up, regulators are considering scrapping the limit and letting banks and payment providers set their own.

The FCA launched a consultation as part of wider efforts to support economic growth. 

Scrapped: The cap on contactless card payments could be cut under suggestions by the FCA

In a letter to the Government, the FCA suggested it could remove the £100 contactless limit – this in turn would ‘allow firms and customers greater flexibility and level the playing field with digital wallets’. 

The move would bring the UK in line with the US, where there is no fixed limit. This allows customers in shops to use contactless for the majority of their payments and transactions.

Contactless payments are now the norm for shoppers. In October 2024, a study by industry body UK Finance found contactless payments accounted for 65 per cent of all credit card and 77 per cent of all debit card transactions.

Overall Britons made 1.6billion contactless card transactions in that month.

Contactless payments were first introduced in 2007 with a cap of £10. The limit gradually increased until 2021 when the £100 limit came in. 

Fraud is a major consideration when it comes to plans to raise the contactless limit or even scrap it altogether. 

Experts fear the change could create a problem for stolen bank cards as victims could theoretically lose more money before a card is blocked.

A spokesman for UK Finance said: ‘We are continuing to speak to the FCA to understand their thinking and plans.

‘We understand they are looking at whether industry can have greater involvement and flexibility in the limit in the future.’

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Contactless £100 limit set to be scrapped in major change to payments

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