How to set a contactless card spending cap to avoid the new £100 limit from 15 October

What's at risk if my card is stolen?

While many welcome the added convenience of the contactless limit increasing, some people report nervousness about the rise (see Martin's Twitter poll responses on the change below) as they worry about their exposure to theft on the back of this.

Currently, regulations state that providers will prevent contactless payments where you try to spend above the contactless limit, where you've made more than five contactless transactions in a row using the same card, or where the total amount spent since you last had to verify a transaction exceeds £130 (this is changing to £300 from 15 October). However, payment providers do have the ability to set tighter limits than the FCA's maximum. 

So if you are concerned about fraud and what might happen if someone steals your contactless card, you should think about your contactless limit as if you were carrying cash. Consider how much cash you would feel comfortable carrying around at any one time and set that as your contactless limit if your provider allows you to do so.

Of course, if your card is stolen, cancel it as soon as possible and notify your provider. You should also monitor your statement for any suspicious transactions.

However, responding to concerns that raising the contactless limit could lead to increased levels of fraud, the Treasury said there was no significant rise in reported fraud when the limit was raised from £30 to £45 last year. It added that reported fraud equated to 0.02% of the total spent using contactless cards since April 2020.