With immediate effect, Dutch banks are enabling customers to make more contactless payments in stores without having to enter their PIN, as part of the exceptional measures required to deter the spread of the Coronavirus.
The cumulative limit for contactless payments with a debit card, which used to be 50 euros, is now being raised to 100 euros. And while customers regularly used to have to insert their card in the payment terminal and enter their PIN even for totals below 25 euros, that will no longer be the case from now on.
“We are asking customers at supermarkets and other stores to opt for contactless payment as much as possible,” says René Roorda, general director at the Dutch Food Retail Association. “We're happy to see banks step up and take initiative here. These measures will benefit customers and employees alike.”
Spokesperson Cees van Tiggelen, a representative of various senior citizens' organisations, supports the raised limit: “The easier it is for the elderly to use contactless payments for their shopping, the better. And the security is just as high on contactless cards, so that doesn't need to be a concern either.”
For the time being, contactless payments above 25 euros still need to be verified by entering the PIN.
Norwegian banks today also followed suit, raising the contactless limit from NOK400 to NOK500 to reduce contagion risk.
Meanwhile, in Ireland, minister for finance Paschal Donohoe has requested that the banks increase the limits on contactless payments to €50.
Other markets are taking similar action, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Poland and Turkey.