Regulator seeks views on scrapping or increasing £100 contactless card limit

The City regulator is seeking views on whether removing or increasing the contactless card limit could benefit households, businesses and economic growth.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said one option put forward is to allow firms who use technology to reinforce fraud controls to set their own limits, as happens in the United States.

The “engagement paper” launched by the regulator forms part of work announced in January in a letter to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to support growth.

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 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.

Feedback to the engagement paper closes on May 9 this year.

Jana Mackintosh, managing director, payments and innovation at UK Finance said: “We welcome today’s announcement from the FCA seeking views on how we can improve payments.

“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.”