The UK limit on single contactless transactions – those that you can simply tap your card to make, no pin or signature required – has increased to £100. However, as Ben Lovejoy at 9to5 Mac noted, this will have little impact on those who want to use Apple Pay to purchase goods as the limit was already significantly higher than that. (In the U.S. of course, the situation is different with different ceilings on when a signature etc is required.)
Apple Pay uses a more sophisticated form of contactless payment reserved for mobile wallet devices that have biometric authentication. With this protocol, banks and retailers can set a much higher payment limit, or even have no limit at all, because the device verifies the identity of the user via Face ID or Touch ID in the case of an iPhone, or the PIN you entered on an Apple Watch when putting it on in the morning. When I asked at the time of launch, my bank hinted that its own limit was £750 ($1,050), and certainly I have made three-figure purchases using Apple Pay. Some people report successfully using Apple Pay for mid-four-figure purchases.
Check It Out: The UK Contactless Payment Limit Has Gone up, But it Will Have Little Impact on Apple Pay