Tap to pay - will it, won't it?
Tap to pay - will it, won't it?
Author
Discussion

DickyC

Original Poster:

58,301 posts

227 months

Friday 27th September 2024
quotequote all
Does anyone know the criteria systems use when you tap your card?

My card has £100 tap limit and I have no idea whether it will work or if it will ask me to insert my card and use my pin.

Petrol stations rarely let me tap more than £50.

In Boots yesterday I couldn't tap a £9 sale but in M&S next door ten minutes later I tapped a £10 sale. These are shops I use regularly. Last Friday, in a village 20 miles away in a Builders Merchant I've never used before, the bill was £99.98. I said to the assistant, "This won't work," but it did. Tap. Paid. Two pence shy of the limit.

When the system started I vowed I'd never use it. That lasted about a month.

Cats_pyjamas

1,914 posts

177 months

Friday 27th September 2024
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Merchants can set their own limits. I believe every 6 taps you have to enter your pin.

Apple/Google pay has no limits, as you authorise it with you thumb print/face recognition . I was weary of it, but it's easier than trying to dig the correct card out of your wallet and no pin faff.

Truckosaurus

13,229 posts

313 months

Friday 27th September 2024
quotequote all
I believe each store sets its own tap limits.

The card will decide when you have to use your PIN (usually after a certain number of transactions or length of time without having used the PIN, or using it more frequently than usual etc.)

Louis Balfour

28,176 posts

251 months

Friday 27th September 2024
quotequote all
DickyC said:
Does anyone know the criteria systems use when you tap your card?

My card has £100 tap limit and I have no idea whether it will work or if it will ask me to insert my card and use my pin.

Petrol stations rarely let me tap more than £50.

In Boots yesterday I couldn't tap a £9 sale but in M&S next door ten minutes later I tapped a £10 sale. These are shops I use regularly. Last Friday, in a village 20 miles away in a Builders Merchant I've never used before, the bill was £99.98. I said to the assistant, "This won't work," but it did. Tap. Paid. Two pence shy of the limit.

When the system started I vowed I'd never use it. That lasted about a month.
I use Apple pay, which draws from my Barclaycard and Amex and appear to have no limit on either.

bitchstewie

67,254 posts

239 months

Friday 27th September 2024
quotequote all
There are limits on Apple Pay (not sure about the Google equivalent) but I think they are set by the merchant or their payment processor.

I think card limits are set by the card issuer.

Vasco

18,009 posts

134 months

Friday 27th September 2024
quotequote all
There are many permutations. Some may get you to input your Pin after 6/12/X transactions but recognise that it can't be achieved on many occasions as you're paying for, say, a bus fare.
I'm sure it's become a little more relaxed in recent times as I can use it many times, sometimes for much larger amounts.

DickyC

Original Poster:

58,301 posts

227 months

Friday 27th September 2024
quotequote all
Thanks for all these. It seems a lot more prosaic than I imagined.

A frequency limit on the card and businesses setting their own limits conspire to make my taps' success or failure appear random. Good. Not Big Brother after all.

My concern was that, if it is random, how tight are the systems? It seems the money people are way ahead of me. Which is good.


bitchstewie

67,254 posts

239 months

Friday 27th September 2024
quotequote all
It's not big brother it's technology trying to make sure someone can't simply nick your card and have a field day and it won't always get it absolutely right.

For what it's worth if you look at something like Apple Pay it's about as close to painless as it gets - to the point where other than out of habit I could (and often do) pretty much leave the house without taking my physical cards.

paulrockliffe

16,555 posts

256 months

Friday 27th September 2024
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Bought a car using Google Wallet once, so the limit is high if there is one.

Zaichik

369 posts

65 months

Friday 27th September 2024
quotequote all
I no longer carry any cards or wallet and just use Apple Pay from the phone.
In fact, dont carry any keys either now as all in the phone.

Vasco

18,009 posts

134 months

Friday 27th September 2024
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Zaichik said:
I no longer carry any cards or wallet and just use Apple Pay from the phone.
In fact, dont carry any keys either now as all in the phone.
Yes, as many now do.
The problem is when you drop or lose the phone - or, increasingly, if it gets stolen.
.

lizardbrain

3,820 posts

66 months

Friday 27th September 2024
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Only thing stopping me cutting up the cards is I
Rubbish at charging my phone.

Vasco

18,009 posts

134 months

Friday 27th September 2024
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Don't forget that phone reception etc is still not possible in some areas - remote countryside, beaches by cliffs, small villages etc

ARHarh

4,892 posts

136 months

Friday 27th September 2024
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It must only be me who thinks its easier to just get a card out and tap it then get my phone out authorise an app and then tap.


Vasco

18,009 posts

134 months

Friday 27th September 2024
quotequote all
wyson said:
That isn’t an issue, the phone can do it off line and sort the transactions out once connected to the mothership.

The only issue I’ve come across is some retailers don’t like Amex on Google Pay. For some reason they require you to tap the physical Amex card. Mastercard and Visa, I’ve never had issues.

Edited by wyson on Friday 27th September 08:45
No, it can't a lot of the time. If you have no phone reception in some areas you can't proceed further.

paulrockliffe

16,555 posts

256 months

Friday 27th September 2024
quotequote all
Vasco said:
Don't forget that phone reception etc is still not possible in some areas - remote countryside, beaches by cliffs, small villages etc
Tap to pay doesn't need phone reception in the same way that your card doesn't either.

Arrivalist

3,459 posts

28 months

Friday 27th September 2024
quotequote all
bhstewie said:
There are limits on Apple Pay (not sure about the Google equivalent) but I think they are set by the merchant or their payment processor.

I think card limits are set by the card issuer.
Apple Pay is definitely set by merchant and card issuer.

Seventyseven7

1,024 posts

98 months

Friday 27th September 2024
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Vasco said:
Don't forget that phone reception etc is still not possible in some areas - remote countryside, beaches by cliffs, small villages etc
You can literally use Apple Pay whilst crossing the Atlantic.

Vasco

18,009 posts

134 months

Friday 27th September 2024
quotequote all
Seventyseven7 said:
You can literally use Apple Pay whilst crossing the Atlantic.
Not much use to those not on Apple....

AndyAudi

3,960 posts

251 months

Friday 27th September 2024
quotequote all
ARHarh said:
It must only be me who thinks its easier to just get a card out and tap it then get my phone out authorise an app and then tap.
Possibly

I don’t usually carry my cards loose so it’s more hassle taking out my wallet, using two hands to remove card tap it, put it back in wallet then pocket

Also with my phone I don’t authorise any app before tapping if using my default card

I tap my phone on machine then it asks for my thumb print when it recognises the transaction, it’s pretty seamless