CB and its members, along with Mastercard and Visa, have decided to raise the limit on contactless card payments from 30 euros to 50 euros.
CB and its members, along with Mastercard and Visa, have decided to raise the limit on contactless card payments from 30 euros to 50 euros.
All stakeholders in the digital payments sector (banks, retailers, payment systems) are taking steps starting today to ensure the smooth roll-out of this measure so that its operational implementation can begin on 11 May 2020.
Today, French consumers can already make contactless card payments ranging from 1 to 30 euros. Sixty percent of card payments are for amounts under 30 euros. Of these, two-thirds are made using contactless technology; the goal is to reach 100 percent. With the contactless payment limit raised to 50 euros, more than 70% of in-store card payments could eventually be made using contactless technology. For amounts above that, customers will still need to insert their card and enter their PIN at the payment terminal.
It’s worth noting that contactless payments can also be made for any amount using enhanced authentication via a code or biometrics with the mobile payment solutions offered by banks.
Raising the limit to 50 euros requires the reprogramming of nearly one million contactless payment terminals, more than 70 million contactless cards in circulation, and the banking information systems that manage them.
With this increase in the contactless payment limit, CB and its members, along with Mastercard and Visa, are positioning themselves to support the recovery in household spending associated with the gradual reopening of retailers planned by the government for that date. The new contactless card payment limit of €50 will be phased in for the majority of contactless card payments, regardless of the card brand, at retailers accepting contactless payments in France.
This is also an opportunity to note that, as part of the National Payments Strategy overseen by the Minister of Economy and Finance, the banking industry has significantly reduced retailers' fees for low-value card transactions since 2015.
The rise of contactless payments is further supported by card transaction fees that are the same as those for transactions requiring a PIN.
