The move follows the payment network’s confirmation that all point-of-sale terminals across the continent will be able to accept contactless transactions by 2020. The contactless limit increased from GBP 20 (USD 30) to GBP 30 (USD 46) in the UK just recently.
“Using payment services such as Apple Pay, consumers can already make higher value (more than GBP 30) contactless transactions by authenticating themselves with their fingerprint or a PIN code on their mobile phone or other device,” MasterCard says. “However, currently, this is only available at selected retailers. By 2017, all contactless terminals will be upgraded to allow higher value payments.”
The announcement comes after the company revealed in August 2015 that the amount British consumers spent using contactless cards increased 560% in the last 12 months. Barclaycard also revealed the amount UK consumers are spending using contactless has risen 150% in the last 12 months. More than GBP 2.5 billion (USD 3.8 billion) was spent using contactless cards in the UK in H1 2015 compared to GBP 2.32 billion (USD 3.55 billion) for the whole of 2014, data from The UK Cards Association reveals.
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