The Limit on contactless card payments increases to £15

Online, March 4, 2010 (Newswire.com) - The payment limit was raised on contactless cards yesterday to £15 per total purchase. This includes credit cards and debit cards using the new 'contactless' technology which allows customers to swipe their card to pay for purchases of £15 or less without entering a PIN or providing a signature.

It is estimated that 1 in 7 people in the UK will have a contactless card by the end of this year and the hope is that more UK retailers will offer contactless payments now that the limit has been increased.

A spokesperson for the UK card industry said that because the payment limit is relatively small fraudsters are not tempted to target this part of the card industry. Your card provider should cover any loss if the card is stolen and you report this at the earliest possible opportunity.

Brian Cunnington of Barclays said: 'Contactless technology is undoubtedly the future of payments and we are seeing it grow hugely in popularity.

'The new higher limit gives customers the flexibility of paying for even more transactions quickly, securely and conveniently via a contactless card payment and will lead to more retailers implementing the technology.'

The new Barclays Visa debit card will have the contactless technology built in as standard and there are now around 4 million Barclaycard credit cards with contactless technology live in the UK.

Craig Gedey Marketing Manager for Debt Advisory Line warned contactless card customers: 'You should always ensure you keep a close eye on credit card and debit card spending habits.'

'My worry with contactless payments is that people may run their bank accounts into overdraft or run over the available credit limit with their credit cards unless monthly management and especially clearing of credit card balances takes place every month.'

'Running up what may seem like an insignificant amount of debt at the time can soon add up and may lead to major debt problems if not managed correctly.'

'At Debt Advisory Line we offer free initial debt advice and we try to help our customers make one affordable monthly payment, we also deal with our customers creditors on their behlaf which can help take away the stress of debt.'