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The ceiling for contactless payments by credit card will not be changed immediately and will remain fixed at 50 euros, said Friday Febelfin, the federation of the financial sector.
The limit for contactless payments with a bank card and without entering a PIN code had been increased to 50 euros, instead of 25, in April 2020, during the first confinement due to the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, it is possible to make several contactless payments in one day until the limit of 100 euros is reached, compared to 50 previously.
“Contactless payment is the most hygienic way to pay for purchases in these times of the corona crisis. You no longer have to touch the payment terminal keypad to make the payment,” Febelfin justified at the time, at the start of crisis. “This measure will remain in effect until it becomes necessary.”
Since then, Belgians seem to have become attached to contactless payments. “The adjustment of 20 to 50 euros per transaction was particularly appreciated by consumers. Today, there is rather a demand to go even further (i.e. beyond 50 euros)” , we confide at Febelfin on Friday. The limit of 50 euros has however been set at European level.
About 60% of card payments are currently made without contact, says Febelfin. Before the coronavirus crisis, this figure was 16%.
