Contactless payment limit raised in UK, Bitcoin an attractive alternative

The payment system is being increasingly taken over by cashless payment mechanism and contactless payments are soon becoming the new normal. In the United Kingdom, the spending limit on contactless payment has been increased to £30, up from £20, as reported by Wired UK. With the supermarket spending average around £25, more customers will now resort to the increasingly popular payment method.

According to The UK Cards Association (UKCA), while some of the payment terminals might not be updated to support the new limit, most card terminals should already be able to process the higher transaction.

"The growth in contactless payments shows people want to use contactless cards and increasing the limit gives customers even more opportunities to pay in this way," said Graham Peacop, chief executive of UKCA.

The industry trade body also noted that despite increased use, fraud on contactless cards was still "extremely low" at one penny for every £100.

It is worth mentioning here that bitcoin has been providing this contactless payment service for quite some time now, notes Inside Bitcoins. OneBit, a Bitcoin startup, is developing an exclusive wallet app that will enable users to make contactless mobile payments. 

There are several other examples of Bitcoin wallets, which enable contactless payments. Airbitz offers the ability to send bitcoins via Bluetooth, Circle offers a digital money platform that delivers streamlined, user-friendly functionality similar to that of traditional online payment tools.

Given the pace at which the payment technology is developing, cash transactions will soon become a thing of the past.