Mastercard has announced they are increasing the contactless payment limit in Australia from AU$100 to AU$200. This is awesome and something that Visa should immediately follow.
This increase aims to help mitigate further the spread of COVID-19 by providing a quick and secure way to pay for household necessities, that is also more hygienic. Already in Australia over 85 percent of Mastercard transactions over AU$100 are contactless.
By permitting a larger number of transactions to take place using contactless without entering a PIN, fewer purchases will require customers to touch potentially infectious surfaces, handle cash or use a pen to process payments at point of sale.
“COVID-19 has become part of our new reality. Mastercard is committed to providing people with the safest, most secure way to pay for their purchases, whether that is the physical transaction itself or the security tools protecting their payment.
In times like this every effort, both big and small, matters and can have a positive impact on our society. Mastercard will continue to explore new ways to support businesses and consumers as we face this challenge together.”
Richard Wormald, division president for Australasia, Mastercard
This is the kind of change that is brought about by coronavirus, but will probably live on after the virus is long behind us. The risk of someone stealing your card and purchasing $200 instead of $100 is there, but if we simply cancel our cards as soon as we lose them, this risk is fairly low.
