Good news for UK Apple Pay users as the payment limit rises
If you have been an early adopter of Apple Pay in the United Kingdom, you’ve likely been frustrated by the £20 limit for every contactless transaction imposed by the banking regulations. As of today, new contactless policies have raised that limit to £30, allowing you to take advantage of Apple Pay for more transactions.
In spite of the limitations, 9to5Mac points out that more than £2.5 billion worth of contactless transactions have taken place across all the payment methods so far this year. Since the new limit applies to all contactless purchases, not just Apple Pay, the £10 raise should encourage even more uptake of the various payment methods in the country.
The £30 limit applies to most U.K. merchants and retailers, but not all of them. For payment terminals that support a fingerprint to be used as an additional authentication method, there is no limit at all. However, adoption of this new equipment has been slow to roll out, and currently only Pret a Manger and Apple Stores support it.
Apple Pay is supported by most of the major banks in the UK, including American Express, First Direct, HSBC, NatWest, Nationwide, MBNA, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, and Ulster. The sole holdout, Barclays, has promised Apple Pay support for the future, but no firm timeframe was given.
For more news on Apple Pay, check out “Apple’s PayAnywhere partnership brings Apple Pay to 300,000 new locations” and “Is Cupertino slowing Apple Pay growth by charging too much?”