Britain’s financial regulator has quietly dismantled one of the most familiar guardrails in everyday spending. As of Thursday, March 19, the Financial Conduct Authority has scrapped the £100 ceiling on individual contactless card transactions, handing banks and payment providers the freedom to set their own limits. Yet in a striking show of caution, virtually every major lender has chosen, at least for now, to leave things exactly as they were.
The change, framed by the FCA as a measure to accommodate shifting consumer habits, rising prices, and advances in payment technology, marks a significant regulatory shift. But its practical effect on shoppers’ daily lives remains, for the moment, negligible. The average contactless payment in the UK sits at just under £18, suggesting most consumers were never close to brushing against the cap in the first place.
Banks Stay Put as Consumer Appetite Remains Muted
The list of institutions holding the line is long. Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Nationwide, NatWest, and Santander have all confirmed they will keep the £100 single-transaction limit in place. Among digital challengers, Monzo has followed suit, while Starling and Revolut say they have not yet reached a decision.
According to UK Finance, the banking lobby group, lenders are holding off because there is no widespread consumer demand for higher limits, and because card terminals in shops would need to be updated before larger contactless payments could be processed.
That consumer hesitance appears to be borne out by polling data. When MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis surveyed his followers on X after the FCA first announced its plans in December 2025, 57% of the roughly 9,500 respondents said they would prefer to keep their limit at £100. Just over 22% said they would raise it to £200, while 12% actually wanted it reduced to £40.
Fraud Risks and Consumer Protections Take Center Stage
The FCA’s decision has not been without controversy. Critics have pointed out that scrapping or raising the limit could give criminals greater opportunity to exploit stolen cards before detection. The watchdog itself has acknowledged that, in a worst-case scenario where limits rise to £150 per transaction and £450 cumulatively, contactless fraud could increase by as much as 131% over three years. Currently, according to UK Finance, contactless fraud stands at just 1.2p for every £100 spent, a figure that underscores both the system’s relative security and the stakes of getting this wrong.
The FCA has been clear that any bank choosing to raise its limits must have robust fraud controls in place, whether that means flagging unusual spending patterns, sending customers real-time alerts, or temporarily freezing cards. Existing reimbursement rules also remain intact: banks must refund customers for unauthorized transactions made on lost or stolen cards, provided the cardholder reports the issue promptly and has not been negligent with their card details.
David Geale, executive director of payments and digital finance at the FCA, put it plainly: “Contactless is people’s favoured way to pay. We want to make sure our rules provide flexibility for the future, and choice for both firms and consumers.” For now, that flexibility remains theoretical, but the door, at least, is open.
