Shoppers could see a major change at checkouts in stores such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons soon.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently held a consultation to seek views on whether removing or increasing the contactless card limit at checkouts could benefit shoppers and businesses.
The “engagement paper” launched by the regulator formed part of work announced in January in a letter to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to support growth.
In that letter, Nikhil Rathi, chief executive of the FCA said they could “remove the £100 contactless limit, allowing firms and customers greater flexibility, drawing on US experience, and levelling the playing field with digital wallets."
Any changes would need to support good customer outcomes as required by the Consumer Duty rules, the FCA said.
David Geale, executive director of payments and digital assets at the FCA, said: “Currently 85% of people in the UK make contactless card payments each month. This is the perfect opportunity to explore whether we can improve and increase trust in the UK’s payments system.”
Emma Reynolds, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said: “The FCA’s review of the contactless payment limits, including removing the £100 limit on individual payments, is a welcome step to ensure that families can safely benefit from more flexibility when making purchases.”
The consultation closed on May 9, but can still be viewed here.
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The FCA said existing legislation requiring firms to reimburse consumers in cases of unauthorised payment fraud, for example when their cards are lost or stolen, would remain in place.
At the time the consultation was announced, Jana Mackintosh, managing director, payments and innovation at UK Finance said: “Having a contactless limit is important in terms of fraud prevention, but we believe overall limits and the number of times a customer needs to enter a Pin should be determined by industry rather than the regulator.
“Banks know their customers and can strike the right balance between protecting them and giving them fast and secure payment options.”
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