Tuesday, 21 July 2026
02 / About 90 seconds
The rule change, decoded
Permission is not implementation.
Banks and payment providers with strong fraud controls can now choose their own contactless limits. But payment terminals and the card rules behind them must also accept transactions above £100, and firms must tell customers clearly before changing anything.
That is how a number can disappear from regulation and remain familiar at the till. The FCA says most providers expected to keep their existing limits for the foreseeable future.
How Britain taps · 2025
The average contactless payment was still under £18.
19.2bnUK contactless card payments
See the UK Finance figures →
Today’s deserving cause · Braintree Area Foodbank
The food parcel is only the first intervention.
12,500People fed in 2023/24
Braintree Area Foodbank combines emergency food with wrap-around support across its Essex district. After demand more than doubled over a few years, it added an in-house Citizens Advice adviser to help people address the problems behind the immediate crisis.
Tomorrow in Wonderful Daily
Peers put late payments under the micros
What does 60 days really mean?