The measure was announced today by Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, at the Budget.

It’s the second time that the contactless limit has been increased since the start of last year. It was initially increased from £30 to £45 at the outset of the pandemic, and has now been more than doubled to £100.

There has been a significant increase in contactless payments since Covid-19 reached the UK, with Treasury figures suggesting that the proportion of contactless debit card payments jumped from four out of every 10 payments in 2019 to six out of 10 in September last year.

Supporters of the move have highlighted that this increase would not have been possible without Brexit, since the European Commission has imposed a €50 cap on contactless payments.

David Postings, chief executive of the banking trade body UK Finance, welcomed the increase.

He continued: “This is a great move for customers and will allow them to use contactless to pay for higher value transactions like their weekly shop or filling up their car with fuel. 

“This could not have been achieved whilst still in the EU so is a true Brexit dividend. We will work closely with the payments sector and retailers ahead of increasing the limit later this year.”