Tap Payments With Visa And Mastercard Increased To $250

With COVID-19 ongoing, one of the many things that’s changing is how we pay for goods in the store.

Many stores have requested that people stop using cash and switch to using cards, helping to eliminate some of the transfer between the shopper and cashier.

In response, contactless payments by tapping your card are gaining popularity to help limit what people touch when in store.

In this regard, Mastercard and Visa have some good news.

Tap pay limit increased to $250 with Visa and Mastercard

Both Visa and Mastercard have raised their tap payment limit to $250 on a single transaction.

The normal limit is $100, but to help combat the virus they’ve increased it to $250.

It may not work right away in store because retailers and payment networks need to accept the new terms before they’ll be able to implement it.

There’s no change for American Express and Interac limits at this time, but if they announce any changes we’ll include them in this post.

Related: Debit vs. Credit: Which Card Is Better?

How tap payments work

New to tap payments? First, your card needs to have this logo on it, either on the front or back. If it doesn’t, your card won’t work with tap payments.

Then, if a store accepts tap payments (you’ll see this same logo on the pay terminal), you simply tap your card on the pay terminal by lining up the logos.

And that’s all you have to do. You don’t have to punch in your pin number and there’s nothing you have to sign. The only thing you have to touch is your card itself.

Now you can use this contactless method to pay up to $250 with a Visa or Mastercard, or $100 with an Amex or Interac card.

Related: Canada’s Best Credit Card For Shopping

Your thoughts

Innovation is something we’re starting to see with COVID-19, and a change like this is welcome to help keep the virus from spreading.

What are your thoughts on this news?

Let us know in the comments below.