Contactless payment limit to be increased to £100

The current limit on contactless payments is £45

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is set to announce in his Budget today that the contactless card payment will increase from £45 to £100, in what is being seen as a boost to retail across the United Kingdom. It's the second rise to the contactless limit in the last year, after it rose from £30 to the current limit in April 2020. While outlining his Budget today, Sunak is expected to point out the popularity of "pinging" payments during the ongoing pandemic, during which people have avoided physical handling of cash, which could carry the virus. Speaking to the Evening Standard, he said: "London’s retail sector is famous across the world, with Oxford Street, Covent Garden and Westfield seen as global destinations for shopping. "As we begin to open the UK economy and people return to the high street, the contactless limit increase will make it easier than ever before for people to pay for their shopping, providing a welcome boost to retail that will protect jobs and drive growth across the capital." Despite the expected boom to business, some experts have warned of a risk of increases in fraud, with figures in banking telling Sky News that a staggered increase to the limit would be better suited. It's understood that as many as 6 out of 10 card payments are now done using contactless pay, compared to 4 in 10 prior to the pandemic.