UK Raises Contactless Payments Cap to £30

The UK Cards Association has announced that the spending cap for contactless payments will be raised to £30 (US$45/€40) from September.

The decision to raise the limit from £20 follows a sharp increase in usage by UK consumers, from transactions totalling £653m in 2013 to £2.32bn last year.

The popularity of contactless payments has surged since London transport users were permitted to use them in place of Oyster cards on the Underground, buses and other services.

“Contactless has now firmly stepped into the mainstream,” said Richard Koch, head of policy at the UK Cards Association.

“With usage soaring every month last year, we’ve seen people flocking to contactless payments as they switch away from cash.”

The UK first introduced contactless cards in 2007, with the payment cap initially set at £10.