UK’s limit on contactless payments rises to £30

The increase from the prior limit of £20 means that people will be able to use phone-based payment services like Apple Pay, as well as contactless cards, for a wider range of transactions across the country.

The UK Cards Association, which decided on the change, says that £30 covers common usages like an average supermarket spend, as well as most payments made in pubs, cinemas, gift shops, and elsewhere.

The cards association’s data shows that contactless payments are on the rise in the UK. The first half of 2015 saw customers make £2.5 billion in contactless payments — that’s more than the whole of 2014, when £2.32 billion was spent.

Terminals across the country will start to be updated from today, but the association says it may take a few weeks before national coverage is complete.

There are now 58 million contactless cards in the UK.

According to the UK Cards Association, more contactless transactions took place during the first nine months of 2014 than the previous six years combined.

The range of places where contactless payments are accepted includes: Aldi, Barnardo’s, Greggs, McDonald’s, M6 Toll, London Buses, London Tubes, and the Post Office.

Richard Koch, head of policy at the UK Cards Association, said: “Consumers are increasingly choosing contactless as a way to pay, and the new £30 limit will give shoppers and retailers even more opportunities.”

Kevin Jenkins, managing director UK and Ireland at Visa Europe, said contactless payments were becoming the “new normal”.

“We’ve seen unprecedented growth in this area, with the number of Visa contactless transactions more than trebling in the past year in the UK,” he added.

The technology enables customers to pay for goods with a single swipe of their card on a reader, without the need to sign or enter a Pin number.

The latest increase to the limit is the third to have taken place.

The new £30 contactless limit is being rolled out from September 1. Not all retailers will offer the new limit from day one, as software updates will need to be made to payment terminals.

There are more than 200,000 bank-owned terminals, so a lot of upgrading work needs to take place.

The UK Cards Association said that customers should follow the prompts on the terminals when they pay.