Contactless payment over £/€30

adonis10

I have a contactless transaction on my credit card for €36/£32.42 but was sure that the limit is 30 in a single transaction. The vendor told me my payment declined and so I used another card so have been charged on both. Can contactless be used for over 30?

agrinnall

Given the evidence of your statement the answer surely must be yes. I think I've seen a few comments on here recently that there are moves towards raising the cap a little higher, so maybe that's started.

The other thing, of course, is that as you mention a Euro amount if the payment was attempted outside the OK and was done offline then the UK cap would be irrelevant, it's the cap that applies in the country where the transaction was done that matters.

someone

Some terminal are been programme to offer contactless to over £30 however it is the card issuers prerogative to decided if their cards will accept higher amounts.

One of the reasons for this change is to support Apple/Android Pay based on the extra security measures in place.

Barclaycard have been running ads indicating they support Apple Pay for > £30.

cloud_dog

Cut a corner off the card....then, no worries

adonis10

Called the bank and they said that limits do differ and new, higher limits are being trialled etc. by some card issuers. Raised it as an investigation because the vendor told me the transaction had been declined so I paid on my Revolut card, but turns out that both have been charged.


I am really not a fan of contactless full stop, but raising the limits again just seems to be asking for trouble; drop card/have it stolen in a bar/restaurant and one could be billed hundreds in smaller transactions before they have even noticed that it is not in their pocket. Has society become so lazy that this solution is better than spending 1-2 seconds entering a pin number? What other benefits are there? Must be benefits to the banks otherwise they wouldn't do it.


Also what baffles me is the fact that contactless transactions take an age to hit your available balance with credit/debit cards, yet with Revolut, for example, it reflects instantly. How does the technology not allow a contactless transaction to reflect in the available balance immediately yet a chip and pin one does, with the exact same debit/credit card?


PS: I am aware that this has become a bit of a rant against contactless but I just don't get how it has been so widely accepted without opposition.

cloud_dog

Contactless payments are off-line payments. This is why if your card is lost/stolen you still have the possibility of payments going through against your account weeks after you contact the bank/cancel the card.

20aday

cloud_dog wrote: »

Contactless payments are off-line payments. This is why if your card is lost/stolen you still have the possibility of payments going through against your account weeks after you contact the bank/cancel the card.

Aren't Visa and MasterCard planning on making all contactless payments 'online' for authorisation so lost/stolen cards can't be used in the near future.

AFAIK in the U.K. contactless payments are capped at £30, it's only the likes of Apple, Android and Samsung Pay where you're able to make higher value payments (where supported).

cloud_dog

adonis10 wrote: »

PS: I am aware that this has become a bit of a rant against contactless but I just don't get how it has been so widely accepted without opposition.

Ermm because, financial institutions are in the business of making money and one aspect of making money is via financial transactions (payments) and the more transactions they can squeeze through the more money they make.

Obviously they have to risk assess this against any increase in fraudulent use/loss but it is no different to a insurance company weighing the risk of a young driver for premiums.

cloud_dog

20aday wrote: »

Aren't Visa and MasterCard planning on making all contactless payments 'online' for authorisation so lost/stolen cards can't be used in the near future.

Hadn't heard that but I cut the corners off my CC anyway.

I did this partially for security reasons but I also became aware, when I was using contactless, that I was becoming less aware that I was spending money or rather I wasn't retaining the recognition that I'd just spent X. I know it is limited to £30 but when you are on a day out, it becomes very simple, very easy.

alanq

20aday wrote: »

Aren't Visa and MasterCard planning on making all contactless payments 'online' for authorisation so lost/stolen cards can't be used in the near future.

From October 2017 according to interviewee on Radio 4 You And Yours.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05fhkp4
(1st item)

adonis10

cloud_dog wrote: »

Contactless payments are off-line payments. This is why if your card is lost/stolen you still have the possibility of payments going through against your account weeks after you contact the bank/cancel the card.

So the card can be cancelled but still used for contactless payments? That is outrageous. How on earth was contactless brought in with such a flaw?