Why contactless payments under €50 are sometimes rejected in france

THE REQUIREMENT OF ENTERING A PIN NUMBER FOR SOME SMALL PURCHASE IS NOT RANDOM Sometimes people are required - seemingly at random - to enter a PIN code when making a contactless payment in

France. Here is why this happens. Contactless payment is permitted for purchases under €50, while for payments over this, contactless payments also require the PIN code. WHY A PIN IS

REQUIRED FOR SOME PAYMENTS UNDER €50  Sometimes a PIN number is required even on purchases under €50.  This happens for security reasons, either when the card holder has exceeded an

accumulated purchase limit, or made a series of transactions without inserting their card. EU regulations stipulate that a PIN is required for contactless payment as soon as the cumulative

amount of purchases exceeds €150, or after five contactless payments. In addition, the rules give banks leeway to perform random checks, meaning that individual banks can essentially require

a PIN at any time. Here are some rules for banks in France about entering a PIN for transactions under €50: Banque Postale: after €80 of cumulative purchases exceeded per day BNP: after

five consecutive contactless payments per day or up to €150 Britline: five consecutive contactless payments per day or up to €150 CIC: after €100 in cumulative purchases exceeded per day

Crédit Agricole: five consecutive contactless payments per day or up to €150 Crédit Mutuel: after €100 in cumulative purchases exceeded, per day Other banks, including Caisse d’Epargne and

Banque Populaire use their own private algorithms to determine when a PIN is required for additional checks below the EU regulation of €150 and five contactless payments.