What do you think about the idea to increase the contactless limit from £45 to £100? Maybe you have a contactless card you use a lot and would love to be able to pay for higher purchases with it? Perhaps you use a contactless ring or app on your phone and would like these limits raised? It might be the case that you want them lowered because of an issue you’ve had with pickpockets using your card? What do you think about a contactless payment limit increase?
The Increase Idea
Now that the United Kingdom has officially stepped away from the EU, this would be one of the first changes, to increase the amount we can spend via a contactless card. It’s currently at a limit of £45, but UK Finance, a City lobby group, has put forward the idea to the Treasury that we should have a higher limit. Right now, it would help people spend more during the pandemic without having to input a PIN number. Stopping customers touching the same surfaces that other people do, stopping the spread of Covid 19. However, when we look at the fact the contactless limit started at just £10, are we moving these limits too fact and hard?
Paying By Contactless
Lots of us have contactless cards, but many still don’t use the facility. You don’t have to have a contactless card if you don’t want to. I fully understand that some people don’t feel safe with having a card which could be taken from you and £45 worth of stuff bought with a tap of your card within minutes. Raising it to £100, at a time when money is tight for many people, could put a huge dent in their finances if a card was stolen and used. Different places offer contactless card Natwest, Santander, Halifax, but we don’t have to use them, remember that. It’s your choice.
How Else Can We Spend With Contactless Payments?
Many people have wearable tech these days, such as a contactless ring. These can be used to make contactless payments. Apps on our phones can do the same. So whether you have a contactless ring, card or something on your phone, we all need to take care of our finances and vote with our feet on whether we would want a fixed amount of contactless payment.
The Ideal Solution
The ideal solution, for those with a contactless ring or a contactless card Natwest would be flexible limits. Ones that we can set ourselves with our banks. Lots of us were happy with the £10 limit as it made it easy to pay for a oaf or bread of pint of milk. But £100 is a lot of money. I for one wouldn’t like my card being taken and finding that £100 has been spent on Playstation games or a new tablet. What is the ideal contactless payment limit? Surely one that we can set to our own preference.
What do you think about the proposed contactless payment limit increase/ Would you use a contactless ring or some other way of easily paying for your purchases? Let me know over on Twitter.
