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Contactless payment cards
Contactless cards and contactless payments are becoming the normal way to pay for purchases up to £100. How does contactless work and how safe is your cash?
Contactless cards have been around since 1997, but first appeared on the UK high street from 2008. Most debit and credit cards now offer contactless payments as standard - and a you can spend up to £100. It's now possible to make contactless payments with a smartphone and smartwatches too, some of which have unlimited spending.
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What is contactless payment?
Contactless payment is a fast way of using your credit, debit or payment card to pay for transactions. It was designed to be a quicker payment method than chip and PIN (personal identification number) payments or swiping and signing.
To pay, you hold your card on a shop's payment reader, without having to enter your PIN. You can pay for transactions up to £100 with contactless payments. The limit started at £30, rose to £45 but leapt in October 2021 to £100.
Not just cards - Apple Pay and contactless phone payments
Apple Pay was introduced in the US and Apple Pay UK launch in 2015. The system pioneered on Apple's iPhones enables you to make contactless payments via a digital wallet in your phone.
You register your existing debit or credit card with the app, and select which one you want to pay with. You place your phone next to the reader and authorise the payment your with the fingerprint or facial recognition feature.
Learn more about Apple Pay contactless payment in our dedicated guide. This is also available via Google Play, for smartphones. There is no upper limit to how much you can spend when authenticated through biometric technologies like fingerprint or facial recognition.
How does contactless payment work?
Contactless payment cards work like any other plastic payment card in principle, relaying information to and from your bank when you spend with them, they just do it quicker, without you having to enter a PIN.
Contactless cards have an embedded antenna in the plastic, which when the card is placed on a contactless payment reader, securely transmits information about the purchase information to and from the contactless reader.
How do I use my contactless card for the first time?
Contactless payment is intended to be used for small to medium value quick transactions, like buying coffees, groceries and drinks, without needing to enter your pin or carry cash.
When using contactless for the first time, when you tap your contactless payment card you will be asked to enter your PIN. After this you will only have to enter it again occasionally to verify your identity.
Once you tap your card on the payment terminal and you will have completed the transaction in a matter of seconds.
If you have more than one contactless card in your wallet make sure to not just place your wallet on the reader as this may cause 'card clash' (where the wrong card is charged or payment is refused). To avoid this make sure to individually place your contactless card on the reader.
Where can I use contactless payment?
You can use your contactless payment card at any reader displaying the contactless payment symbol. If you're unsure whether you can pay ask the merchant, if you can't use contactless payments, you can still pay via the chip and PIN method.
It's also possible to pay for all Transport for London journeys with a contactless card instead of an Oyster Card, allowing you to avoid queuing to buy top-ups or tickets.
If you make multiple tube or bus journeys in one day, the amount you will have to pay will be capped at no more than the cost of a daily travel card. There's also a cap for Monday to Sunday spending, at the same price of a travel card for the zones you have travelled in.
How safe is contactless payment?
A common misconception is you could accidentally pay for something you didn't want to, by walking near a payment reader, but this is highly unlikely.
It's also equally unlikely fraudsters are able to take payments from cards in purses, pockets and wallets with a secret illegal card reader. UK Finance, the banking trade body, said when it increased the cap on spending to £100: "There has never been any verified report of this ever happening in the UK. It's not possible to simply 'steal' cash from a contactless card. "
Contactless payment is as safe as any spending you do with a credit or debit card. Arguably safer as you don't have to expose your PIN in public anywhere, nor do you ever hand your card over to anyone else.
Also, as with any credit or debit card there are still risks of card fraud, but your card provider should offer you protection over this and freeze the card if any suspicious payments are being made.
If your card is lost or stolen you should contact you bank immediately and freeze it, regardless of whether your card is contactless or not. Most banks and card providers have a 24/7 emergency number to phone.
The biggest risk is if your card is stolen someone could spend up to a preset limit on it before being asked to enter a PIN. However, they could only spend up to £100 per transaction, so if you phone your bank immediately you should have time to freeze the card before any spending is done.
How can I get a contactless payment card
Most banks and card providers now offer contactless payment cards as standard with all their new-issue cards. If you would like to upgrade your old card to a contactless one, you should be able to request one from your provider.
Compare credit cards with Uswitch
Find a credit card with contactless payments.