The value of a single purchase on a contactless card will increase to £30 in the coming weeks, up from £20.
The increased limit is aimed at broadening broaden the appeal of contactless payments further as more people make them part of their day-to-day routine.
The use of “tap and go” technology has already seen strong growth over the last year as it has become accepted in a rapidly-expanding variety of places – from popping to the supermarket to visiting a charity shop, posting a parcel, buying a pasty or jumping onto public transport.
The technology was first introduced in the UK in 2007 as a handy alternative to scrabbling around for cash to pay for low-value transactions.
Now there are 58 million contactless cards in the UK. According to trade body the UK Cards Association, more contactless transactions took place during the first nine months of 2014 than the previous six years combined.
Richard Koch, head of policy at the UK Cards Association, said: “Contactless payments are fast, easy and secure and use the same robust encryption technology as chip and PIN.
“Consumers are increasingly choosing contactless as a way to pay and the new £30 limit will give shoppers and retailers even more opportunities.”
The new £30 contactless limit started to be rolled out from 1 September. Not all retailers will offer the new limit from day one, as software updates will need to be made to payment terminals in order to allow them to accept the new limit.