Contactless limit may increase to £100

RG2015

As per title.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55826118

williewonder

I think this is a bad idea. If I were to lose my bank card a criminal could easily spend upwards of £500 of my money in multiple transactions. There should be an option on banking apps to turn off the contactless capabilities.  

shinytop

Just use Google/Apple pay on your phone.  It's already a higher limit anyway and needs a password or fingerprint to unlock. 

njm123

williewonder said:

I think this is a bad idea. If I were to lose my bank card a criminal could easily spend upwards of £500 of my money in multiple transactions. There should be an option on banking apps to turn off the contactless capabilities.  

Mine do have the option to freeze cards within them  with Lloyds - not checked the others.    I know Santander can send alerts but only for debits over £50 - and that may change with the Contactless limit, also they only allow changes to be made from the website not the app.

dr_adidas01

RG2015 said:

As per title.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55826118

In Australia it was already set at $100 and when I was there in February last year I used my Australian NAB card quite frequently and it was great being able to use it for such large amounts. 

I do use Apple Pay a lot as it does allow you to spend more than the £45 contactless limit on cards. 

I think raising the limit to £100 is a great idea especially for those that do use contactless a lot. 

eskbanker

dr_adidas01 said:

In Australia it was already set at $100 and when I was there in February last year I used my Australian NAB card quite frequently and it was great being able to use it for such large amounts.

But a year ago that was roughly the equivalent of £50, based on the exchange rate at the time, so not significantly different from the current limit here....

AstonSmith

Will the bank-side "total spend between PIN uses" limit be increased as well? If not, this might not be as useful as it seems.

e.g. at my work every now and then someone will try a contactless payment, but the terminal declines it with the error "DECL-INS CARD". Subsequent chip & PIN use has always succeeded so far.

spenderdave

I was concerned when they increased it to £45 so putting it up to £100 sounds a very bad idea. Lose your card and the thief can use it say 6 times and do you out of £600 - and the number of uses before mandatory PIN seems to be less enforced than it used to be. Although chip and pin is convenient does it really take that much more time to put it in the slot and enter the PIN. Covid transmission from keypads, notes and similar has never been proved and is probably very rare.

MDMD

I wonder if it would be technically possible to allow a person to select their preferred amount - you can for cash withdrawals from some banks.

But then Apple Pay has a much higher limit anyway....

born_again

Not a good idea, far too many people lose their cards & fail to report it for days/weeks. Thus loses are a lot more than should be. The number of cards found on local facebook group is amazing. All asking is this your card and do you want it back... Not I have called the bank and stopped it....
As contactless fraud is a total loss to banks, then I would expect/hope that they have some input in this change.

Not sure on the reasoning behind this, as tapping a key pad is not exactly hard work or unsafe (if you are that worried then you need to carry hand sanitiser and use it everytime you touch something)

limits on Apple & Android vary by retailers, so most will be the same as the contactless limit. Others are happy to have a higher one at their risk.

od244051

It is a very very bad idea. Why? 

. People will forget what they are spending. As £10, £83 there, soon adds up.
. Fraud
. Accidentally using the wrong card in error and people may not get that sorted out and occur bank charges.
. People forget their PINs

What the banks could do is to let customers to set their contactless limits. Either on the bank app or ringing the call centre. If anyone has poor finances, the bank can set a low limit.

I do wish people would know their PINs! Sometimes the banks randomly request the next payment is a chip n PIN. Customers have a go at us for this, it’s nothing to do the shop! They would have had the same problem if they visited another place! Please remember your PIN. You don’t need to use the PIN issued randomly by your bank. Choose a number which is easy to remember- eldest child’s birthday, childhood phone number, mum’s birthday, wedding anniversary etc. But not year of birth or your birthday.