Waitrose is raising the contactless payment limit at its supermarkets and convenience shops – from £30 to £45 – to help customers minimise the need for contact while shopping.
The retailer has already worked with its payment provider to test the change in ten branches and will tonight roll this out across its entire estate.
The change means that from tomorrow (2nd April) all shoppers with a contactless payment card will be able to make purchases of up to £45 without the need to enter their pin number.
The move is part of a string of measures introduced by the retailer to ensure social distancing can be maintained while shopping.
Waitrose has already introduced social distancing measures to protect its customers and staff, including limiting the number of customers in its shops and marshals to ensure that social distancing is followed as customers queue.
Matt Clifton, head of payments for the John Lewis Partnership, said: “Our customers are telling us that they want the minimum number of touchpoints possible in our shops at the moment.
“With this in mind we’re quickly increasing the maximum contactless payment to £45.”
