Credit Card News

On Friday 15 October contactless payments will increase to £100 from the current limit of £45. Contactless payments have more than tripled in the space of 18 months, with shoppers having a limit of just £30 in March 2020, which increased to £45 in April 2020.

The roll-out of the new £100 limit will begin on 15 October, however it may take some retailers longer to update all their payment terminals. Commenting on the increase, David Postings, chief executive at UK Finance, said: “Contactless payment has proved very popular with consumers and an increasing number of transactions are being made using contactless technology. The increase in the limit to £100 will allow people to pay for higher value transactions like their weekly shop or filling up their car with fuel. The payments industry has worked hard to put in place the infrastructure to enable retailers to update their payments systems so they can start to offer their customers this new higher limit.”

Every week we highlight some of the best personal finance deals currently available. These deals are selected based on their competitive rates and features that benefit consumers. We’ll include a selection of market leaders as well as new products entering the market.

This is only a selection of the financial products available, those looking for a new savings, mortgage, loan or credit card deal should use our charts to compare the best deals.

• Compare the best savings accounts
• Compare the best mortgage rates
• Compare the best loan rates
• Compare the best credit cards

The cost of borrowing on credit cards has increased to a record high of 26.0% APR, but interest-free deals have become more competitive, making it vital that borrowers hunt around to ensure they get the best credit card deal.

Research, due to be published in the Moneyfacts UK Unsecured Lending Trends Treasury Report, found that in September the average purchase APR (including fees) increased month-on-month from 25.9% to 26.0%, meanwhile last year the average APR stood at 25.2%.

A combination of factors has resulted in the record rise in average APR as Rachel Springall, finance expert at Moneyfacts.co.uk, explained: “A selection of low-rate credit cards worsened, some higher-than-average rate cards were launched, and other lower-than-average rate cards were withdrawn. In June, NatWest, RBS and Ulster Bank increased their 9.9% APR purchase rates to 12.9% and TSB increased its own from 7.9% APR to 9.9% APR. As it stands, there are only now cards available from Lloyds Banking Group, Tesco Bank and TSB that charge a purchase rate of 9.9% APR within the entire credit cards market.”

Consumers looking for a new current account or credit card will be able to see what finance experts agree are the best deals with the announcement of the Moneyfacts 2022 personal current accounts and personal credit cards star ratings.