The days of tapping your card only for small purchases may soon be over, as UK regulators weigh scrapping the £100 contactless limit entirely.
In a move that could reshape everyday spending, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is considering lifting—or even scrapping—the £100 contactless card payment limit in the UK. The proposal would empower banks and payment providers to set their own limits, tailoring convenience and security to different customers’ needs. With a public consultation open until mid-October, the change could arrive as soon as early 2026.
Why the FCA is rethinking the £100 cap
The FCA’s engagement paper, published in March 2025, argues that contactless payments are now deeply embedded in UK daily life—93 % of debit cards and 94 % of credit cards have contactless capability, according to UK Finance. Yet the regulatory limit hasn’t kept pace with inflation, evolving shopping patterns, or faster, more secure fraud-detection technology.
The FCA points out several key trends: many consumers already use digital wallets (e.g. Apple Pay, Google Pay), which bypass the £100 limit by authenticating via biometrics or device PINs. Fraud losses on contactless payments remain very low relative to turnover, and advanced real-time transaction risk monitoring now allows smarter, more dynamic fraud prevention according to Hogan Lovells. On the government side, the move ties into a broader “pro-growth” agenda: smoother payments may foster spending and innovation.
From cards to phones to smartwatches—contactless payments now come in many forms, making checkout faster than ever.
What the proposals actually include
The FCA is consulting on a range of options:
-
A new “risk-based exemption” for in-person contactless transactions, which would allow firms with strong fraud detection and low historical fraud to set higher—or no—limits.
-
Raising or removing the statutory single-transaction limit of £100 (for example to £200 or higher), possibly combined with more flexible cumulative or consecutive-tap rules. The FCA is also considering whether to remove or increase the £300 total-contactless threshold or the “five-tap” rule before requiring PIN entry.
-
Giving providers and consumers more autonomy: letting banks and payment service providers (PSPs) set individual contactless thresholds based on risk, and giving cardholders the option to cap (or disable) contactless functionality themselves.
-
In the longer term, the FCA is exploring whether the Consumer Duty could replace or supplement prescriptive contactless-limit rules, shifting to a more outcomes-based regulatory approach.
The FCA doesn’t expect firms to immediately adopt unlimited contactless transactions, and any major change would depend on strong fraud-monitoring frameworks.
Risks Vs. Safeguards
Naturally, letting people tap and go for £500 or £1,000 payments raises fraud concerns. But the FCA and industry argue that the risk is manageable—and already low. In 2023, contactless-card fraud amounted to about £41.5 million, just a fraction of total unauthorised fraud losses of £708.7 million. UK Finance estimates that the fraud-to-turnover ratio on contactless payments remains significantly below that of unauthorised card fraud overall.
The Independent reports that key safeguards could include real-time transaction risk analysis, behavioural monitoring, and fraud-scoring systems—tools that many banks and payment firms are already using or could expand further.
Importantly, consumer protections remain intact: firms will continue to bear liability for unauthorised transactions and are expected to refund consumers if their card is stolen or misused.
And many banks already allow customers to set their own contactless limits—or turn the functionality off entirely—for personal peace of mind.
A quick tap on the card machine is replacing chip-and-PIN as the UK’s most common way to pay.
What might this mean for shoppers and retailers
If contactless payments become more flexible—or even effectively unlimited—everyday transactions could speed up significantly. Big supermarket shops, family meals out, clothing purchases and other mid-to-high-value transactions might no longer require chip-and-PIN or digital wallets. This could reduce checkout queues, simplify payments for merchants and consumers, and push contactless payments closer to the frictionless experience offered by mobile wallets.
For retailers, especially small ones, this may require upgrading or reconfiguring point-of-sale terminals. Firms may also need to rethink fraud-monitoring and merchant liability assumptions, especially if they start accepting larger “tap-and-go” transactions without PIN or other authentication.
On the consumer side, the biggest benefit could be speed and convenience—less tapping and typing, fewer delays at checkout, and the ability to “just tap your way out.” But there’s also a potential downside: easier big-ticket spending might lead to overspending or make stolen or skimmed cards a more attractive target.
International perspective
Linklaters reports that the UK isn’t alone in reconsidering rigid contactless limits. Several other jurisdictions give more freedom to payment providers, or offer higher default thresholds, particularly when layered with multi-factor authentication or “tokenised” payments via mobile wallets. The FCA explicitly references this kind of international variation in its analysis.
As digital wallets proliferate and biometric authentication becomes more widespread, the boundary between “tap with a card” and “tap with a phone” is blurring. Allowing flexible contactless limits may be one way to bring physical-card payments into sync with modern digital payments.
Keeping your cash and cards secure remains a priority, even as contactless limits rise.
FAQs: People Also Ask
Will my money still be protected if someone steals my contactless card?
Yes. Under current UK law, banks and payment providers are required to refund unauthorised transactions—even contactless ones—if your card is lost or stolen, and that protection won’t disappear under the FCA’s proposals.
Can I already disable contactless payments or set my own limit?
In many cases, yes. Several banks and payment services already offer customers the option to cap contactless spending or turn it off entirely, and the FCA expects that choice to become more widely available.
Could raising the contactless limit lead to more crime or theft?
That risk is real—and it’s been raised in previous debates over contactless spending—but the FCA believes that modern fraud-detection tools, combined with consumer protections and risk-based oversight, can control it. Fraud losses on contactless are currently low relative to other types of card fraud.
When might these changes take effect?
The FCA consultation closes mid-October 2025, and if changes are approved and implemented in stages, updated limits—or provider flexibility—could begin to roll out in 2026.
In conclusion
Removing or relaxing the £100 contactless limit could bring a seismic shift in how Brits pay—but not without trade-offs. With rising prices and payments increasingly moving toward frictionless mobile experiences, the FCA’s proposal aims to bring physical card payments into the fast lane. If robust fraud prevention, smart consumer protections and flexible choice are part of the package, tapping to pay might soon become a powerful, effortless norm—even for big-ticket purchases.
Other Stories You May Be Interested In:
Neymar and the Billion-Dollar Inheritance: Fact, Fiction, and What We Know
Why Winning a VMA Isn’t About the Cash — It’s About the Power
