Santander lets UK customers set own contactless transaction limit

Customers of Santander bank in the UK can now set their own contactless transaction limit lower than the maximum of £100 (US$132) introduced by the UK government in October.

Santander UK logo

The bank is offering customers the option of changing their card limit to any multiple of £5 (US$6.62) up to £95 (US$126) via the chat service on its mobile banking app and online banking website.

Customers can also opt to turn off their card’s contactless payment functionality completely.

“Turning off contactless payments and amending your contactless payment limit is only available for Mastercard customers,” Santander says.

“If you have a Visa card and would like to switch off contactless payments, please contact us as we’ll need to update your card to a Mastercard and send a new one to you.”

The move comes as small and medium enterprise (SME) payments provider Tyl by NatWest releases data showing that the average value of transactions accepted by its SME customers in the UK has risen by an average of £7.85 (US$10) since the contactless limit increase.

The average transaction value in the floristry industry rose by £19 (US$25) from £31 (US$41) to £50 (US$66), while the clothing retail industry recorded an average transaction value rise of £6 (US$8) from £80 (US$106) to £86 (US$114) per transaction.

Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland announced in September that they would start allowing customers to their own contactless spending limits after the UK increase in October, while Starling digital bank revealed that 50,000 of its customers had chosen to lower their own limit by early November.

A survey released in October showed that three in four UK consumers want to set their own contactless spending limit.

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