From behind the counter, the contactless limit is not one number you control. The card decides. A payment above the single transaction ceiling is declined for contactless and the customer inserts the card instead, and a card that has tapped repeatedly without verification will ask for a PIN regardless of the amount. Your terminal enforces what the card instructs.
Two limits, not one
There is a ceiling on a single contactless transaction, and separately a cumulative amount that can be spent by tapping before strong customer authentication is required. The second is why a customer who has tapped several times that morning is asked for a PIN on a coffee. Neither limit is set by the merchant or by the acquirer, and no terminal setting changes it.
Why the national figure is no longer one figure
The UK moved from a fixed regulatory ceiling towards firm set limits, which means different card issuers can apply different thresholds. For a shop this is invisible: the terminal asks the card and does what it is told. It does mean that quoting a single national contactless limit to a customer is now unreliable, and staff are better off saying that the card decides.
What it means for your machine and your rate
Nothing on either. Every terminal in this index handles both outcomes, and every provider charges the same in-person rate whether a sale is tapped or inserted. The only practical consequence is that a business selling above the ceiling regularly needs a keypad, which every reader here has.
Questions people ask about contactless card limit
Can I raise the contactless limit on my card machine?
No. The threshold is applied by the card and its issuer, not by the terminal or by your acquirer. Your machine simply follows what the card returns.
Does a declined contactless payment cost me anything?
Not usually a transaction fee, since no payment was taken, though some acquirers charge an authorisation fee per request. Check whether your provider bills authorisations separately from the percentage.
Should I tell customers the limit?
Better to say that the card decides and offer the chip reader. Since limits can vary by issuer, quoting one figure will sometimes be wrong and always sounds like your machine is at fault.