Consumers will start to see retailers accepting contactless card payments up to £100, which will give them more flexibility when shopping in store. This will also help with bigger spends where speed and convenience are valued, such as a family meal out.

Given the number of terminals that need to be updated, the £100 limit may not be available across all retailers immediately. To check if a retailer has updated to the new limit, customers should either ask in store or follow the prompts on the card payment machine when paying.

Where the retailer’s terminal has not been updated, payment cards can still be used as before.

From January to July of this year 60 per cent of all debit and credit card transactions in the UK were made using contactless. This accounted for 6.6 billion payments, a value of £81.4 billion.

David Postings, chief executive of UK Finance, said: “The new £100 limit offers customers greater choice about how they pay for things like their weekly shop or a tank of fuel. Contactless payments have become increasingly popular, and the payments industry has worked hard to ensure retailers are able to offer customers the new higher limit.”

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.