Have you turned off contactless payments or set contactless limits? Why?

[writingwords]

Hi everyone,

I am a business and finance journalist and I am working on a story about contactless payments habits in the UK for the Telegraph. I am looking to speak with people who have decided to switch off contactless payments or set contactless limits on cards. I am particularly interested in knowing if changing contactless habits have helped you save?

My name is Kari McMahon and my email is kari.mcmahon.freelance@proton.me . I am looking to get a wide range of perspectives for the article.

If you think you are a good fit but are worried about speaking with a journalist, don’t be! I am happy to talk you through the process first, so that you can understand what’s involved.

I also hope this question sparks some discussion on the forum.

Many Thanks!

[XFool]

Hi everyone,

I am a business and finance journalist and I am working on a story about contactless payments habits in the UK for the Telegraph. I am looking to speak with people who have decided to switch off contactless payments or set contactless limits on cards. I am particularly interested in knowing if changing contactless habits have helped you save?

I also hope this question sparks some discussion on the forum.

It probably will.

I don't use contactless payments, apart from my age related TFL Travel card (Ironically I will have to use my contactless debit card tomorrow, as I am setting out for a hospital appointment by bus before 9pm). I like to feel in control of money transactions myself (e.g. Have always tried to avoid Direct Debits, Contactless) and am entirely happy with Chip & Pin.

People describe these things (DDs, Contactless) as "convenient". They are; for retailers.

My credit card is Contactless. I couldn't get them to give me a replacement, so I have physically disabled the card's RFID by severing the aerial from the chip. It still works perfectly as a credit card using Chip & Pin. That's what I call "convenient".

Why? Because last time I accidentally used my credit card on the London Tube instead of my travel card it took weeks to sort it out. That's not what I call "convenient". Last time I accidentally used my 'lobotomised' credit card on a London bus instead of my travel card, it didn't work. That's what I call "convenient".

[tjh290633]

I use contactless payments whenever possible. The big advantage is not having to regularly draw cash from an ATM, which have almost disappeared from our village. You can judge the effect by the change in drawing £100 once or twice a month to now drawing £50 every two or three months.

I haven't succumbed to the temptation to use my mobile phone as a contactless payment device, but my son uses his smart watch for that purpose.

TJH

[Lootman]

I use contactless payments whenever possible. The big advantage is not having to regularly draw cash from an ATM, which have almost disappeared from our village. You can judge the effect by the change in drawing £100 once or twice a month to now drawing £50 every two or three months.

I haven't succumbed to the temptation to use my mobile phone as a contactless payment device, but my son uses his smart watch for that purpose.

Yes, I use contactless wherever possible, and have never had a problem with it. Saves having to worry about coins and change.

I still like cash for certain things, and some vendors and contractors prefer it, and sometimes offer a discount for cash. I take a few hundred out at a time and, in general, it lasts me longer as time goes by.

I would never use a phone for anything financial.

[swill453]

I'm just back from a week in Spain, over there contactless is just as ubiquitous as here, both in the cities and in the villages. I keep a float of Euros between holidays, I hardly needed to make a dent in it this time.

Scott.

[DrFfybes]

I am particularly interested in knowing if changing contactless habits have helped you save?

In days gone by I would take £50 out on a Saturday morning, do the weekly shop, go out on a Saturday night and if there was anything left the following Friday I'd pop down the pub again. This meant there was always money at the end of the month to go into the savings kitty for things like vehciel expenses and holidays.

But that was 40 years ago. Now, like most of the people on this forum, I am approaching retirement age but like many already retired, andaffluent enough not to be concerned about saving. I suspect most of us are not the demographic you are after

FWIW had there been contactless 40 years ago I would probably have still done what I did, but that was my upbringing. I didn't really like it when it came in but have used card payments for several years just to avoid the faff of large amounts of cash once it started cosing £50 for a tank of fuel.

Paul

[formoverfunction]

Contactless, well I haven't really used cash since the 90's. I always just stuck it on the card and settled it at the end of the month.

I did get £20 at Christmas and I've just used most of that up in the pub last week. Just £3 quid or so left now! Maybe that will make it all the way to Easter.

I can't be bothered with paying with my iPhone, but I do appreciate that transactions are aviable to check nearly as they happen.

Saying that, I do have a blocking card in my wallet and a pouch for my cards and phone, I leave the tin foil hat at home most days.

[Mike4]

I've been using ApplePay for personal spending and contactless for business expenses for as long as they've been around with no problems whatever.

Both are GREAT.

Talking to a journalist though, terrified of that ever since I did it aged 15 and they just made up and published a load of sh1t I didn't say and attributed it to me. Lesson learned.

I'm still angry about it. Can you tell?

[tacpot12]

I've set a limit of £45 on my car for contactless transactions. My experience with the card set at its default limit of £100 was that I would only be prompted to enter my PIN every 6 or 7 transactions, and £5-600 felt like too much to loose, so I dropped the limit to £45. The frequency with which I am prompte to enter my PIN hasn't changed, but now I should lose less than £300 if I lose my card.

I would expect that someone trying to use the card fraudulently will try to make the maximum purchase they can with it, and it will be rejected causing them to have to consider whether they have been caught on CCTV, and consider if they want to try re-presenting the card at another retailer. Hopefully, this would give me more time to realise that the card had been lose and cancel it.

[GeoffF100]

I have big supermarket less then a mile away, so I shop on foot every couple of days. My in person payments are usually less than £10, and almost always under £20. Petrol is the only exception. A £100 contactless limit is crazy for me. I do not like carrying a card with £100 contactless limit connected to an account with lots of money in it or a big credit limit.

My solution is to use a prepaid card with a small amount of money on it for most of my in person payments. I cannot reduce the contactless limit from £100, but at least my liability is limited if the card is lost or stolen.

My credit card does not allow me to reduce the contactless limit, or to turn contactless off (short of butchering the card). I mostly keep that card hidden away at home and use it only to pay for petrol and make online payments, or to make big in person payments (notably to my dentist).

I have reduced the contactless limit on the debit card for my current account to £5 (which is the minimum that is allowed). I have also cut the overdraft limit on that account to £300. That account can have a large balance and regrettably allows unauthorised overdrafts. I carry that card but keep it well hidden away. That is my reserve card in case the prepaid card fails.

[Lootman]

I've set a limit of £45 on my car for contactless transactions. My experience with the card set at its default limit of £100 was that I would only be prompted to enter my PIN every 6 or 7 transactions, and £5-600 felt like too much to loose, so I dropped the limit to £45. The frequency with which I am prompte to enter my PIN hasn't changed, but now I should lose less than £300 if I lose my card.

Surely you would not lose anything since the bank/issuer has to refund you for any charges that are not yours.

It's just that you have a hassle getting those dud charges cancelled.

I find the £100 limit useful as it covers most of my transactions and so I don't need the PIN that much.

[XFool]

I don't use contactless payments, apart from my age related TFL Travel card (Ironically I will have to use my contactless debit card tomorrow, as I am setting out for a hospital appointment by bus before 9am). - NOT "9pm"

It didn't work! (Red light showing). No idea why not. Anyway, I just carried on regardless...

Contactless? Shonktactless! Who needs it?

PS. My old Oyster card still has "minus £1" on it.

[XFool]

I use contactless payments whenever possible. The big advantage is not having to regularly draw cash from an ATM, which have almost disappeared from our village.

I don't quite follow the logic here. Like many, my use of cash has seriously fallen off over recent years and I mostly pay for everything by credit card - I don't use my debit cards to pay for things.

But I still don't use "contactless" (apart from my travel card on bus and trains).

[tjh290633]

I use contactless payments whenever possible. The big advantage is not having to regularly draw cash from an ATM, which have almost disappeared from our village.

I don't quite follow the logic here. Like many, my use of cash has seriously fallen off over recent years and I mostly pay for everything by credit card - I don't use my debit cards to pay for things.

But I still don't use "contactless" (apart from my travel card on bus and trains).

Like you, I seldom use my debit card. Almost all my payments are made by contactless, unless it requests a PIN entry. I only have one item for which I pay cash regularly.

I haven't checked but my cash withdrawals seem to be no more than one every three months

TJH

[writingwords]

Hi everyone,

I am a business and finance journalist and I am working on a story about contactless payments habits in the UK for the Telegraph. I am looking to speak with people who have decided to switch off contactless payments or set contactless limits on cards. I am particularly interested in knowing if changing contactless habits have helped you save?

I also hope this question sparks some discussion on the forum.

It probably will.

I don't use contactless payments, apart from my age related TFL Travel card (Ironically I will have to use my contactless debit card tomorrow, as I am setting out for a hospital appointment by bus before 9pm). I like to feel in control of money transactions myself (e.g. Have always tried to avoid Direct Debits, Contactless) and am entirely happy with Chip & Pin.

People describe these things (DDs, Contactless) as "convenient". They are; for retailers.

My credit card is Contactless. I couldn't get them to give me a replacement, so I have physically disabled the card's RFID by severing the aerial from the chip. It still works perfectly as a credit card using Chip & Pin. That's what I call "convenient".

Why? Because last time I accidentally used my credit card on the London Tube instead of my travel card it took weeks to sort it out. That's not what I call "convenient". Last time I accidentally used my 'lobotomised' credit card on a London bus instead of my travel card, it didn't work. That's what I call "convenient".

Really interesting insight, especially on your decision to disable the card's RFID. Would you be willing to chat with me some more about this for the article? If so, please either drop an email ( kari.mcmahon.freelance@proton.me ) or a private message.

[writingwords]

I use contactless payments whenever possible. The big advantage is not having to regularly draw cash from an ATM, which have almost disappeared from our village. You can judge the effect by the change in drawing £100 once or twice a month to now drawing £50 every two or three months.

I haven't succumbed to the temptation to use my mobile phone as a contactless payment device, but my son uses his smart watch for that purpose.

TJH

Interesting insights! Can I ask why you haven't been tempted to use your mobile phone as a contactless payment device yet? It would be great if you could either drop an email ( kari.mcmahon.freelance@proton.me ) or a private message.

[writingwords]

I have big supermarket less then a mile away, so I shop on foot every couple of days. My in person payments are usually less than £10, and almost always under £20. Petrol is the only exception. A £100 contactless limit is crazy for me. I do not like carrying a card with £100 contactless limit connected to an account with lots of money in it or a big credit limit.

My solution is to use a prepaid card with a small amount of money on it for most of my in person payments. I cannot reduce the contactless limit from £100, but at least my liability is limited if the card is lost or stolen.

My credit card does not allow me to reduce the contactless limit, or to turn contactless off (short of butchering the card). I mostly keep that card hidden away at home and use it only to pay for petrol and make online payments, or to make big in person payments (notably to my dentist).

I have reduced the contactless limit on the debit card for my current account to £5 (which is the minimum that is allowed). I have also cut the overdraft limit on that account to £300. That account can have a large balance and regrettably allows unauthorised overdrafts. I carry that card but keep it well hidden away. That is my reserve card in case the prepaid card fails.

I would be really interested to know more about this. Would you be willing to talk to me for the article ? If so, can you please either drop an email ( kari.mcmahon.freelance@proton.me ) or a private message.

[writingwords]

I've set a limit of £45 on my car for contactless transactions. My experience with the card set at its default limit of £100 was that I would only be prompted to enter my PIN every 6 or 7 transactions, and £5-600 felt like too much to loose, so I dropped the limit to £45. The frequency with which I am prompte to enter my PIN hasn't changed, but now I should lose less than £300 if I lose my card.

I would expect that someone trying to use the card fraudulently will try to make the maximum purchase they can with it, and it will be rejected causing them to have to consider whether they have been caught on CCTV, and consider if they want to try re-presenting the card at another retailer. Hopefully, this would give me more time to realise that the card had been lose and cancel it.

I'd love to know a bit more about your experience setting the limits. Would you be willing to chat with me some more about this for the article? And if so, can you please either drop an email ( kari.mcmahon.freelance@proton.me ) or a private message.

[writingwords]

I've been using ApplePay for personal spending and contactless for business expenses for as long as they've been around with no problems whatever.

Both are GREAT.

Talking to a journalist though, terrified of that ever since I did it aged 15 and they just made up and published a load of sh1t I didn't say and attributed it to me. Lesson learned.

I'm still angry about it. Can you tell?

I am m sorry that happened to you, that's completely against industry practices and shouldn't have been able to interview you at that age without parental permission. But don't hold that experience against all journalists, we aren't all like that!

[y0rkiebar]

My solution is to use a prepaid card with a small amount of money on it for most of my in person payments. I cannot reduce the contactless limit from £100, but at least my liability is limited if the card is lost or stolen.

Monzo is prepaid and allows you to set the contactless limit from £0 upwards (£0 will decline all contactless).