What You Need to Know About Contactless Payment Limits
If you are tired of waiting for your EMV chip card payments to be processed, you will be glad to know that contactless credit cards and payment systems are gaining popularity in the US.
You’ve likely seen card readers equipped with the extra hardware needed to read cards in retail stores, gas stations, and grocery stores across the country. You can also use Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, or Google Pay, which is simply a form of contactless payment that stores your credit or debit card information in a mobile wallet on your smartphone.
If you’re already using it, you’ve probably figured out that, just like with a regular credit or debit transaction, each card issuer sets its own limit before customers have to use a PIN or token.
For example, according to CreditCards.com , the Mastercard limit is $ 100 per transaction, while you will need to sign a transaction over $ 50 using Apple Pay . In the UK, where the payment system is much more popular, the limit is £ 30 per transaction, while in Australia it is AU $ 100. There may also be a general daily limit before you have to use your PIN or sign for security reasons, but again this will vary depending on the issuer and merchant. While they vary widely in the US, “we know that contactless limits are always lower than when using a PIN transaction that was set for security reasons to avoid fraud,” says WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez.
“Many of us don’t need to sign a receipt after we make a purchase for less than $ 25 or $ 50, for example,” Rick Chen of Credit Karma wrote in an email. The “rules” for contactless credit cards (such as cards popular in Europe or Australia) are generally the same as for contactless payment systems such as Apple Pay. “
The main advantage of the system is speed. “While an EMV transaction takes about 30 seconds, a contactless payment takes 13 to 15 seconds,” says CreditCards.com . And according to Visa, transactions are as secure as regular chip transactions because a one-time code is generated every time you wave it in front of the terminal.
Of course, none of these measures are perfect. Your card can still be stolen, just like your smartphone. If you are using a mobile wallet for contactless payments, here are some security tips from Credit Karma :
- Use all the locks offered by your device and applications. These features include Touch ID and Apple iPhone PINs, which can help protect your phone when you’re not using it.
- Set up notifications for all cards you put in your digital wallet. Most card issuers allow you to set alerts that will send a text message or email when your card is being used in a certain way.
- Use anti-malware protection on your phone and consider technology that allows you to remotely wipe it if it’s lost or stolen.
And connect credit cards to your wallet, not debit cards, so that in the event of a theft, the credit issuer does not have to recover the cash that has already been withdrawn from your account.