Overview
- The rule took effect on 19 March, letting banks and payment firms raise, lower or remove per‑transaction contactless limits beyond £100.
- Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds (including Halifax and Bank of Scotland), NatWest, Santander and Nationwide say they will hold at £100 for now, with TSB and several challengers also making no immediate changes.
- Any future adjustments must be clearly communicated to customers, and many banks already allow users to set lower caps or disable contactless in their apps.
- Mobile wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay already allow higher‑value tap payments through biometric verification and additional security checks.
- Fraud risk remains a focus, with low losses per £100 of spend reported but recent rises in contactless fraud, and regulators expecting stronger real‑time controls before any wider limit increases.