The contactless card payment limit has increased from £45 to £100 from today, a move which has raised concerns about the risk of fraud.
Age UK warned that raising the limit could increase the potential for fraud, putting some older people off using bank cards to pay for goods and services.
“As the banks and some shops try to encourage people to use less cash, it’s important that they take proactive steps to help to boost people’s confidence to use cards as an alternative and to tackle fraud,” Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said.
“Both shop and bank employees should be trained to watch out for signs of coercion or abuse, such as unusual spending patterns, and be prepared to sensitively raise the issue with their customers when they believe it’s the right thing to do.”
Several banks will also allow account holders to set a contactless limit of less than £100 or turn it off altogether.
Despite the increased limit, many retailers’ terminals will need to be updated so for some the option will not be available immediately.
It may take “days, weeks, or even months” for some retailers to make the necessary changes, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), so for the time being customers will need to check with individual stores.
The increase marks the fifth time the limit has gone up after it was initially set at £10 in 2007.
It was raised to £45 in April 2020, in the early months of the first national lockdowns when some shops restricted cash transactions.
Between January and July, 60%, or 6.6 billion payments, of debit and credit card transactions in the UK were contactless, according to trade association UK finance.
UK finance figures indicate that in 2016 just 7% of all payments were made using contactless cards.
Source : skynews
