The Australian payments industry has begun implementing an increase in the country’s contactless payments transaction limit, from A$100 (US$60) to A$200 (US$120)... More
Australia doubles contactless transaction limit to A$200
Transaction limit
Qatar triples contactless transaction limit
Banks in Qatar are raising the contactless transaction limit from 100 riyals (US$27.46) to 300 riyals (US$82.39), in a bid to limit the spread of Covid-19... More
EBA recommends Europe-wide contactless transaction limit increase
The European Banking Authority has issued a statement urging the European payments industry to increase contactless transaction limits to €50 (US$54.97)... More
Table: Contactless payment transaction limit increases around the world
Updated 30 January 2023 Countries around the world are increasing the contactless transaction limit in a bid to lower cash usage to combat the spread of Covid-19... More
Mastercard: 29 countries have now agreed to raise their contactless payment limit
Mastercard is now working with 29 countries across Europe and central Asia to implement increases to their contactless payment transaction limit, the payments network says... More
UK raises contactless transaction limit by 50%
The spending limit for contactless card payments in the UK is being increased from £30 (US$35.33) to £45 (US$52.99), UK Finance has announced. The new spending limit will begin to roll out from 1 April 2020. More
Egypt promotes cashless payments with increased contactless transaction limit, free prepaid cards and mobile wallets
The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has introduced a series of measures designed to reduce the need for citizens to use cash to make payments, including a doubling of the contactless payment transaction limit and free access to both prepaid card and mobile wallet services... More
Norwegian banks increase domestic contactless card transaction limit
Norway is increasing the transaction limit for BankAxept domestic contactless debit card payments from 400 kr (US$34.28) to 500 kr (US$42.84) “in order to minimise the number of physical touch points where infection can be transmitted”... More
Poland doubles contactless payment transaction limit
Poland has doubled the country’s contactless card transaction limit from 50 zloty (US$11.85) to 100 zloty ($23.71)... More
Desjardins increases contactless limit for Canadian credit cardholders
Canadian financial services group Desjardins has increased the contactless transaction limit from C$100 (US$69.72) to C$250 ($174.31) “on Desjardins terminals for Desjardins credit cardholders.”... More
Ireland to raise contactless transaction limit to €50
Banks in Ireland have agreed to increase the contactless transaction limit from €30 (US$32.17) to €50 (US$53.54) “to minimise the handling of cash amid Covid-19”, The Irish Times reports... More
Saudi Arabia triples contactless card transaction limit
The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) has increased the purchase limit for Atheer contactless domestic debit card transactions from SAR 100 (US$26.61) to SAR 300 (US$79.84), in a bid to reduce the spread of novel coronavirus... More
Dutch banks raise cumulative contactless payments limit to €100
Banks in the Netherlands are seeking to combat the spread of Covid-19 by increasing the maximum value of contactless transactions that a cardholder can make before needing to enter a PIN to €100 (US$107.07), up from the previous €50 (US$53.54)... More
Octopus triples its stored value card limit
Octopus stored value limit increases to HK$3,000 to meet consumers’ greater spending needs — Octopus — “Any customer who possesses a Smart Octopus issued before 1 October 2019 or an Octopus product issued before 1 December 2019 can upgrade the stored value limit from HK$1,000 (US$127.75) to HK$3,000 (US$383.26) via Octopus App or at any Octopus Service Point. Once the stored value limit has been upgraded, customers can also make payment of up to HK$3,000 for each transaction starting from 1 December at over 3,200 retail outlets.”
Revolut lets customers pre-authenticate their contactless card as they approach the SCA transaction limit
UK-based neobank Revolut has implemented a Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) system that lets customers use their mobile banking app to authenticate their contactless card as they get close to reaching the new contactless transaction limit, avoiding the risk of having their card declined when they next attempt to make an in-store purchase... More
Monzo to use app notifications to address Strong Customer Authentication communications issues
UK-based neobank Monzo is to use app notifications to provide customers who have a contactless card transaction declined due to new Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) requirements with the information needed for them to successfully complete their transaction... More
Researchers showcase method for bypassing contactless card limit
Hack breaks your Visa card’s contactless limit for big frauds — Forbes — “To carry out their hack, the researchers used a specialised piece of hardware to intercept and insert messages in the communications between the card and the reader. For instance, they could tell the card that verification — like a PIN — wasn’t needed, even though the requested amount was more than £30. They then told the terminal that verification has already been made by another means.”
Finnish banks double contactless transaction limit to €50
Banks increase limits for contactless payments — News Now Finland — “Customers in most Finnish banks can now use their bank cards to make contactless payments up to €50. The previous limit was €25… 79% of Finns use contactless payments. Two years ago that figure was only 52%.”
Mastercard doubles contactless transaction limit in Serbia
Additional benefit for Mastercard contactless consumers — CorD Magazine — “Mastercard today announced that the maximum amount for contactless payments without a PIN will increase to RSD3,000 (US$28.76)… The current limit for contactless payments without a PIN, set at RSD1,500, was established in 2008.”
ABN Amro rolls out wearable payments on rings, watches and bracelets
Customers of Dutch bank ABN Amro can now connect a wide range of Mastercard-certified wearables to their bank account and use them to make both standard, low value contactless payments and also, by entering a PIN at the point of sale, higher value transactions beyond the contactless limit as well... More
