The limit on contactless payments will be increased from 30 to 50 euros

The raising of the limit on contactless payment from 30 to 50 euros was already under consideration, but the Covid-19 epidemic has accelerated discussions between French banks, decision makers in this area.

The ceiling will rise from 30 to 50 euros from 11 May, the French Banking Federation (FBF) announced on Thursday (April 16th), confirming a report from Europe 1. This increase in the ceiling “is now possible,” FBF President Frédéric Oudéa said in a statement.

Some have argued that this method of payment reduces the possibility of contamination compared to a credit card payment requiring typing its code on a keyboard or handling cash.

For the same reason, some 20 European countries had announced at the end of March that their contactless payment limits would be raised, usually to 50 euros.

Industrial preparation

If the change will not take effect until 11 May, it is because such an operation requires “heavy and delicate computer industrialization” unable to “to be done overnight, in a hurry, without risking destabilizing a system that works well, especially in the delicate context of this coronavirus”, explained last week the grouping of bank cards.

“The implementation proves that banks are constantly engaged in this crisis to meet the needs of their customers,” frédéric Oudéa.