Will I be charged for making a contactless transaction? (2024)

FAQs

Can you be charged for using contactless? ›

No. Making a contactless transaction in the UK is free of charge. If you are using your contactless card abroad you will be charged at the same rate applied to normal purchases.

No transaction fees apply to credit cards. For debit cards the transaction fee is waived on contactless transactions until further notice, additional charges may apply when using your card abroad.

There are no additional fees for merchants to use Tap to Pay on iPhone. Our credit card processing rates for using Tap to Pay on iPhone is 2.6% + 10 cents per transaction Footnote ⁴Opens overlay.

It is currently very rare for customers to be charged a premium for contact free transactions using credit or debit cards. ALDI is one of the few retailers that does this – if you insert a card and pay with eftpos there is no fee while all tap and go transactions incur a 0.5% surcharge, even for debit cards.

There is a maximum amount of £100 allowed per transaction and, from time to time, you will be asked to enter your PIN to verify you are the genuine card holder. How much does it cost to pay with contactless? There are no additional fees for using your contactless card.

Because contactless payments require neither PIN nor signature authorisation, lost or stolen contactless cards can be used to make fraudulent transactions.

You can use a contactless card as many times as you like within a day so long as each purchase is under £100. Just bear in mind that you may be asked to use chip and PIN after using contactless a few times in a row. Don't worry, it's just an extra security measure to check it's you making any payments.

Make sure you have enough money in your account before you make a contactless payment.

Contactless costs less per transaction than Chip & PIN. It's not a huge amount, but it all adds up, faster. With Contactless payments, you're guaranteed to be paid.

Difference between contactless payments and tap to pay

Tap to pay is a form of contactless payment, but not all contactless payments are tap to pay. Tap to pay specifically involves physically tapping a device or card to make a payment using a specific radio frequency (more on that later).

Does Apple Tap to Pay charge a fee? ›

Tap to Pay on iPhone has no subscription cost or setup charge.

Does it cost extra to use Apple Pay? No. Apple does not charge any fees when you pay with Apple Pay — in stores, online, or in apps.

It varies from one payment service provider to another but many offer rates of 0.7% for contactless debit card transactions and 1.5% to 2% for domestic credit card transactions. Other payment options such as international, commercial card payments and buy now, pay later are generally higher again.

Insert your debt card when paying

Tap-and-go payments on credit cards have higher charges for merchants. Debit card payments using tap-and-go often go through the same network with a similar charge. But if you insert your debit card when making a purchase then your payment goes through the cheaper eftpos system.

Payment methods accepted

Your virtual cards and physical cards are considered different payment methods, so always tap on and tap off with the same card or device – for example if you tapped on with your smartwatch, tap off with it too!

No. If you have two contactless cards in your purse or wallet and hold it over the reader, the payment will normally be rejected.

You can use a contactless card as many times as you like within a day so long as each purchase is under £100. Just bear in mind that you may be asked to use chip and PIN after using contactless a few times in a row. Don't worry, it's just an extra security measure to check it's you making any payments.

I tapped in with my contactless card or device but I didn't tap out. What do I do? If you don't tap in and out on each journey you make, we won't know where you have travelled, so we can't charge the right fare. If this happens your journey will be incomplete, and you could be charged a maximum fare.

Pay as you go with contactless may not always be the cheapest way to pay for your journey. For example: If you have a Railcard or are eligible for other discounts (like a Child discount), it may be cheaper to buy a ticket for your journey. Currently discounts cannot be applied to pay as you go with contactless.