3rd September, 2021
Several aspects are currently being evaluated as the limit on contactless payments is set to go up in the U. K.
The national roll-out of the new £100 spending limit for contactless card payments will begin from mid of next month.
Even as UK Finance highlighted several aspects, including the option to spend more than £100 via other methods such as cash, mobile payments like Apple Pay or Google Pay etc., security-related questions are being raised – what if a contactless card is lost or stolen, is the fraud rate going to increase, how to opt-out of having a contactless card and so on.
Visa has already highlighted that consumer confidence in contactless payments has accelerated throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. The company’s research indicated that two-thirds (65%) of consumers globally would prefer to use contactless payments as much as, or more than, they are currently. Across Europe, over 80% of Visa payments made in-store are now contactless.
Referring to the utility of Strong Customer Authentication (SCA), which adds extra layers of security to electronic payments, ingenico pointed out the new limit will also see a rise in the limits involved in SCA. The trigger point for a single contactless transaction to be considered for SCA will become £100, and the cumulative limit will be increased from £130 to £300. Even as a fraudster who has a lost or stolen card will be able to perform £300 worth of purchases (if they reach that limit in under 5 transactions) before they’re asked to prove their identity, one can request additional authentication for any contactless transaction that real-time monitoring suggests might be fraudulent. Ingenico asserted that real-time fraud monitoring systems will play a bigger role in the time to come.
Which? recommended that consumers should try to avoid making card visible, ask for receipts and check bank statements.
By Ritesh Gupta, Ai Team
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