Apple Pay Confirmed to Have £20 Limit Per Transaction in UK

[MacRumors]

Apple Pay will be arriving for customers inside of the United Kingdom, backing support from about 250,000 UK merchants, sometime in July. Today, Apple released a support and FAQ page on its website to document the processes and answer the questions that some merchants may have with the impending launch of the service (via 9to5Mac).

Following the confirmation by multiple banks on the matter earlier this month, Apple has confirmed that some retailers and specific out-of-date terminals will hinder customers to a £20 limit on their Apple Pay purchases (which will increase to £30 in September). However, the company does state that merchants with terminals "capable and configured properly" -- and a payment provider that supports the most up to date specifications on contactless payments -- will be able to support larger transaction sums.

Apple Pay allows your customers to make easy and secure contactless payments at any amount. If your payment terminal or payment provider doesn't support the latest network specifications, as with contactless debit and credit cards today, your customers might need to insert their card if the transaction amount is over £20.

To accept Apple Pay for transactions over £20, your payment terminal must be capable and configured properly, and your payment provider needs to support the latest network contactless specifications.

The process for merchants to support a limit raise may be arduous, however, and as such most retailers will be facing the £20 right out of the gate when the service launches in July. Retailers supporting the "Consumer Device Cardholder Verification Method," another support document updated today, will be able to enable "contactless payments for any amount." Unfortunately, the security-ensured method requires updated terminal software that may see a slow adoption rate to stores around the United Kingdom in the early days of Apple Pay.

The rest of the FAQ page details the expected list of questions about liable fraud charges for merchants, list of payment providers that support Apple Pay in the United Kingdom, and a process detailing return policies for customers using the mobile wallet. Apple also confirmed during WWDC that London-based Apple Pay users will be able to commute and pay for fares on London's Underground with the help of the service. The company also promised that the service will be backed by eight of the "most established banks" in the country when it launches.

Article Link: Apple Pay Confirmed to Have £20 Limit Per Transaction in UK

 

[Menopause]

£20, so just a bottle of water then.

 

[wsc9005]

Just like every other contactless payment then.

Although this limit is due to be increased to £30 soon.

 

[peterh988]

Not much in the Apple Store you can buy for under £20. Hope they all get the future tech sorted to lift this limit.

My local supermarket has gone NFC on all its checkouts (24) but they get limited use as most people passing through doing a weekly shop are spending way more than £20.

 

[bigchrisfgb]

This article is very misleading.
It has confirmed that the limit will not apply if a retailers software is up to date.

 

[tommyjay]

Can anyone tell me, please oh please, where these limitations keep coming from????

I have a US debit card, but live in the Czech Republic my whole life. Since I got my iPhone 6, I have been using Apple Pay at merchants in the Czech Rep, Slovakia, Germany, with no problem. Any store that has a contactless terminal accepts Apple Pay, I really don't understand, and I am genuinely interested to understand where all of this is coming from... Please? Someone?

 

[drunkmouth]

More secure than Contactless cards but still limited to £20. Is this because the machine can't tell the difference between Apple Pay and Contactless cards?

 

[peterh988]

Just like every other contactless payment then.

Although this limit is due to be increased to £30 soon.

Yes, but other contactless payments have no security, fingerprint authenticated contactless should be just as, if not more secure than PIN payments, so should have the same limits as a chip and PIN payment. And it seems it will, when the backend systems get sorted out.

 

[Yellowbean12]

This isn't an Apple Pay restriction specifically, it's a restriction for contactless payments in general.

Can anyone tell me, please oh please, where these limitations keep coming from????

I imagine if someone steals your contactless card it's much better that they can only buy £20 (soon to be £30) worth of stuff in one go, rather than an unlimited amount.

 

[Sheza]

your payment terminal must be capable and configured properly, and your payment provider needs to support the latest network contactless specifications.

And yet they don't state what the actual configuration and specifications are. How is any merchant supposed to know if they support payments above £20 with vague statements like that?

 

[rikscha]

There is the £20 limit and then there is Barclays who is the bigger limitation on Apple pay in the UK.

 

[johnnyjibbs]

This article is very misleading.
It has confirmed that the limit will not apply if a retailers software is up to date.

Exactly - if you read the article it is nothing as the headline suggests.

I can only read positives from this - that the normal £20 limit applies currently by won't necessarily in future, and presumably not on those that are official Apple Pay retailers (Waitrose, M&S, etc.)

Can you even buy anything in the Apple Store for under £20?!

 

[ghostface147]

I guess we have a much much higher limit here in the US. I think the most I have spent is $110 on it.

 

[johnnyjibbs]

More secure than Contactless cards but still limited to £20. Is this because the machine can't tell the difference between Apple Pay and Contactless cards?

It's just that unofficial terminals will see Apple Pay as just another contactless card and for security reasons the £20 limit is imposed. For official retail partners I would imagine he £20 limit would not be in place. Would be a bit pointless for your weekly Waitrose shopping wouldn't it, but in places like Pret a Manger or McDonalds it won't matter one bit.

 

[RichTF]

Ugh. I absolutely love Metro bank, but this is the one time they've let me down, no idea when they will get on board. Really looking forward to using ApplePay. Might open a second bank account just so I can…

 

[tommyjay]

This isn't an Apple Pay restriction specifically, it's a restriction for contactless payments in general.


I imagine if someone steals your contactless card it's much better that they can only buy £20 (soon to be £30) worth of stuff in one go, rather than an unlimited amount.

No I understand that. I don't mean actual restrictions.... I mean these "propaganda'd" restrictions... As I said, I have been using Apple Pay in the Czech Republic for half a year now, regularly. Yet all of "the media" says that it is only supported in the US, and now will be introduced to the UK.... BUT IT'S NOT..... So I'm just curious if someone can explain this to me...

 

[bigchrisfgb]

Exactly. I can only read positives from this - that the normal £20 limit applies currently by won't necessarily in future, and presumably not on those that are official Apple Pay retailers (Waitrose, M&S, etc.)

Exactly.
How anyone is getting the impression that it means it will be limited to £20 is beyond me. This says the opposite.
I would imagine all Apple pay retailers will be able to accept transactions over the limit and that others who aren't ortners but have the required hardware and software will also be able to take payments over the limit.

 

[Yellowbean12]

No I understand that. I don't mean actual restrictions.... I mean these "propaganda'd" restrictions... As I said, I have been using Apple Pay in the Czech Republic for half a year now, regularly. Yet all of "the media" says that it is only supported in the US, and now will be introduced to the UK.... BUT IT'S NOT..... So I'm just curious if someone can explain this to me...

Because you're using a US debit card from a US bank which has signed up to Apple Pay.

 

[johnnyjibbs]

Can anyone tell me, please oh please, where these limitations keep coming from????

I have a US debit card, but live in the Czech Republic my whole life. Since I got my iPhone 6, I have been using Apple Pay at merchants in the Czech Rep, Slovakia, Germany, with no problem. Any store that has a contactless terminal accepts Apple Pay, I really don't understand, and I am genuinely interested to understand where all of this is coming from... Please? Someone?

A bit of history...

Long before Apple Pay was even announced, the UK was a pioneer of so-called contactless technology that allowed small transactions (originally up to £10, then later to £15 and now £20) to be paid for with a tap of any NFC-compatible debit card for conveniently buying a sandwich, coffee or newspaper. This was a quicker and faster way than using chip and pin (which the UK has had for years) and without the hassle of cash.

Gradually, more and more merchants have started using the technology, such as the London Underground, but it is still primarily designed for small payments because it doesn't have the security of entering a pin. Hence the limit is for security reasons.

Fast forward to 2015 and Apple, having very wisely chosen to support an existing standard to increase adoption, are using the existing network and hence have to play by the same rules. As adoption climbs and new versions of the technology (as Apple alludes in the document) can differentiate Apple Pay from other contactless cards then this will change, it will just take time. I would fully expect the official partner retailers to not have such limits, which is the positive I take out of the article.

So the limit is nothing to do with Apple Pay. And it wasn't artificially imposed either, it's just a relic of what got us here in the first place.

 

[tommyjay]

Because you're using a US debit card from a US bank which has signed up to Apple Pay.

Thank you for the clarification.

 

[Kissaragi]

Maybe this is more of technical restriction with our NFC terminals? They were designed for contactless cards with a limit so maybe a lot of them can only have one limit defined for contactless payments? Rather than a £20 limit for card NFC and unlimited for mobile NFC.

I have no real idea about how they are set up but it was just a thought as we have had our contactless terminals for a while vs the US.

 

[Jsameds]

In a nutshell -

The NFC standard for contactless in the UK was written (obviously) before Apple Pay, when the only contactless payments available were not so secure (No verification, literally just a card swipe), and so a limit was placed to reduce the amount of damage a fraudster could do if they stole your contactless card.

Now Apple Pay has come along and is much more secure than previous methods, but sadly still has to abide by the rules written for the not so secure methods.

So - a new standard has been created for Apple Pay and other subsequent secure contactless payments called "Consumer Device Cardholder Verification Method", but unfortunately this will require up to date hardware on the shop's behalf, and also the latest software running on it.

Once the shops have that in place, payments over £20 (£30 in Sept) will be accepted.

 

[peterh988]

Exactly.
How anyone is getting the impression that it means it will be limited to £20 is beyond me. This says the opposite.
I would imagine all Apple pay retailers will be able to accept transactions over the limit and that others who aren't ortners but have the required hardware and software will also be able to take payments over the limit.

As I read it, you need to have the correct equipment running the correct software to allow >£20 payments. It's possible, but it seems few outlets will have the correct setup from day one. The slow uptake will be shops taking their time to get their terminals updated, either physically, or new software.

So to all intents and purposes, most people will be using older machines limited to £20 transactions at launch date.

 

[tommyjay]

A bit of history...

Long before Apple Pay was even announced, the UK was a pioneer of so-called contactless technology that allowed small transactions (originally up to £10, then later to £15 and now £20) to be paid for with a tap of any NFC-compatible debit card for conveniently buying a sandwich, coffee or newspaper. This was a quicker and faster way than using chip and pin (which the UK has had for years) and without the hassle of cash.

Gradually, more and more merchants have started using the technology, such as the London Underground, but it is still primarily designed for small payments because it doesn't have the security of entering a pin. Hence the limit is for security reasons.

Fast forward to 2015 and Apple, having very wisely chosen to support an existing standard to increase adoption, are using the existing network and hence have to play by the same rules. As adoption climbs and new versions of the technology (as Apple alludes in the document) can differentiate Apple Pay from other contactless cards then this will change, it will just take time. I would fully expect the official partner retailers to not have such limits, which is the positive I take out of the article.

So the limit is nothing to do with Apple Pay. And it wasn't artificially imposed either, it's just a relic of what got us here in the first place.

Great answer! Thank you so much! I personally don't have a contactless card, just the iPhone, and for transactions over 1000 CZK (about $45) I have to enter my card's pin in the terminal. I know that the US has been a slow adopter (compared to EU etc) with the chip cards, and I just never understood how come for the past year I kept hearing about these restrictions to the US for using Apple Pay, even though since I got my iPhone I never had any issues, no matter where I went. Contactless terminal = Apple Pay accepted. At least that has been my experience no matter where I was in Europe, so far.

Thank you for the clarification johnnyjibbs!!

 

[matrix07]

And yet they don't state what the actual configuration and specifications are. How is any merchant supposed to know if they support payments above £20 with vague statements like that?

Call Apple?

Is this a click bait article? Why I feel the headline and content didn't quite.. matches?