Contactless spending limit to rise to £45

Barclaycard has announced it will be rolling out the deployment of a new £45 contactless limit across UK retailers from 1 April 2020.

The payments provider, which enables almost half of the UK’s credit and debit card transactions, said that the increased threshold would “help to prevent” the spread of coronavirus. 

By adjusting the contactless limit from £30 to £45, customers will be able to make a higher proportion of payments without touching card terminals or handling cash.

Deployment of the rise will first be rolled out amongst retailers in key sectors, including supermarkets, bakeries, pharmacies and petrol service stations. 

The group said that the limit would be extended to other retailers “in due course”.

Barclaycard currently provides the technology to power over 150,000 terminals across the UK retail sector. It last raised the contactless threshold back in 2015, when the spending limit increased from £20 to £30. 

It deployed the UK’s first contactless payments card in 2007, and later oversaw the roll out of ‘touch and go’ payments across the Transport for London Network.

CEO of Barclaycard Payments, Rob Cameron, said: “It’s more important than ever for merchants and their customers to be mindful of their collective health and safety. 

“We are proud to be taking a leadership position in the UK by commencing the deployment of a higher contactless threshold.” 

He added: “By supporting the ability of customers to spend up to £45 via contactless, we are playing a part in helping UK consumers to pay safely and securely in these challenging times.”