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01st Apr 2020

New €50 contactless limit comes into effect today

Alan Loughnane

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The banking industry has increased the contactless payment limit from €30 to €50 from today.

The move had been promised as part of measures to limit cash transactions during the Covid-19 outbreak.

The new limit applies to all contactless transactions made in store with a physical debit or credit card in most businesses across the country.

The move has been welcomed by banks, including KBC Bank of Ireland.

“As Irish people continue to navigate the challenges presented by the coronavirus, it is critical that we, as an industry, remain focused on their best interests and offer the necessary supports to make life a little bit easier and safer,” Peter Roebben, Chief Executive Officer at KBC Bank Ireland, said.

“The increase to the contactless limit will encourage more consumers to tap and pay for goods and services, thereby limiting the exchange of cash and reducing physical contact in stores.”

However, Tesco has announced that the changes will not be implemented in their stores across the country.

The company said it looked at every possible way to introduce the change seamlessly, but it would have to implement a manual fix on over 4,600 card terminals in over 150 stores around the country to do so.

Tesco said the “risk associated with making such a large volume of software updates is very significant,” especially in already very busy stores.

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