Paymentsense: Almost Half of UK Consumers Want Custom Contactless Limits

Contactless transactions in the UK are an interesting animal these days, with increasing numbers of users putting these to work and some of them starting to chafe at the limits involved. In fact, a recent report from Paymentsense says that UK shoppers want to be able to alter the limits to suit their needs. Not all of them, interestingly, want to just raise the limits.

It turns out, according to the Paymentsense study, that 18 percent of shoppers want to lower the limit on their contactless transaction capability of 30 pounds sterling—$39.74 US as of this writing—mainly because they’re concerned about potential fraud. That was the case for 53 percent of those wanting to lower the limit, while another 23 percent wanted lower limits to help them better stick to a budget.

For a larger proportion, however—26 percent of the total—raising it is the goal. Forty-four percent of those wanting to hike the limits just found the current 30 pounds too low.

Income levels also play a role; those making 30,000 pounds a year or less—$39,735 US—wouldn’t raise limits over the Christmas shopping season because there would be entirely too much temptation to overspend. Just 12 percent of over 50,000 pounds per year—$66,226.50—shared this concern. Two out of three of these households were ready to raise the limit specifically over the holiday season out of fears of being pickpocketed.

One-size-fits-all more commonly turns out to be one-size-fits-al-most-nobody. Some balk at the limits and want to have more access to contactless to cut down on the cash they’d have to carry. Others want to reduce the limits for the sake of sticking to a budget. Indeed, why should there be limits at all? We hear multiple governments talking about concern for the average citizen, but surely the average citizen can make these decisions by him- or herself.

There will always be those who scoff at the decision-making capabilities of the average person, but for the most part, surely people know what their budget limits are and can be counted on to spend accordingly. Of course, given the amount of credit card debt out there that may not be so, but then that’s on them. Customizable limits are smart business; they let the individual make the decisions.

Source: https://www.paymentsense.co.uk/blog/contactless-card-limit-research/