The idea of high-value payments being made with a tap of a card will raise concern that thieves and fraudsters will target cards.
Various protections are already in place. In addition to the £100 single payment limit, consumers are often required to enter a PIN if a series of contactless transactions totals more than £300, or five consecutive contactless payments are made.
The FCA’s own analysis suggests raising the limits would increase fraud losses, but said detection was improving and would continue to get better.
It said any change would be reliant on providers ensuring payments were low-risk, through their fraud prevention systems.
Consumers would still get their money back if money was stolen by fraudsters, according to David Geale, from the FCA.
“People are still protected. Even with contactless, firms will refund your money if your card is used fraudulently,” he said.
Many banks already allow cardholders to set a contactless limit of lower than £100, or switch it off completely, and the FCA expected this option to be made widely available.
It argued that time savings, less “payment friction”, and a reflection of rising prices over time would make changes in the limits worthwhile.
Payment terminals would also need to be altered, as most are programmed to automatically refuse payments of more than £100 by card.