What you need to know
- UK Apple Pay users will soon be able to spend £100 contact-free.
- The current contactless limit is £45.
- Some stores don't have a limit at all, however.
Users of Apple Pay in the UK will soon be able to spend as much as £100 without needing their card after it was announced that the increase will take place from October 15. The previous contactless limit was £45.
While some stores, like Apple Stores, don't impose any limit on Apple Pay transactions, the majority of retailers treat them as any other contactless payment. That means that the limit is the same as paying using a contactless card, despite the biometrics involved with Apple Pay, Touch ID, and Face ID.
It's now been confirmed that the current £45 limit will increase to £100 in two months.
The national roll-out of the new £100 spending limit for contactless card payments will begin from 15 October 2021, UK Finance announces today.The decision to raise the contactless limit from £45 to £100 was made by HM Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority following a public consultation and in discussion with both the retail and banking sectors. It follows on from the successful increase in the limit from £30 to £45 in April 2020.
That increase from £30 to £45 was originally rolled out in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing more contactless payments to be made in an attempt to cut down transmission of the virus.
This of course doesn't change anything about how people will buy iPhone 13 and other products in Apple Stores next month — Apple Stores have always allowed payments well in excess of £100 when using Apple Pay.
Apple is set to announce the new iPhone lineup at some point next month, believed to be September 14. Despite a relatively small number of changes, iPhone 13 will undoubtedly be the best iPhone yet.
