“Over the course of nearly a decade, contactless has become the nation’s default way to pay. People value speed and ease above all else so removing the contactless limit takes us a step closer to meeting those demands. I don’t expect to see any drastic changes on day one, but over the next few years we will see banks and card providers adjust their own contactless limits or remove them entirely.
“Banks’ top priority will be security. They already pay a heavy price for fraud, so they will work hard to ensure contactless limits don’t expose their customers to greater risk.
“Whilst this marks a step forward in the UK’s payments modernisation programme, it is just a small piece of a much bigger picture. Retailers and customers want payment options; developments in alternative payment options like tokenised deposits and stablecoins present potentially significant benefits by offering more choice whilst drastically cutting costs and time. But the UK must get the guardrails right, just as it has on contactless.”
