Contactless is useless for fuel unless you top up with over half a tank remaining. ApplePay / Google Pay work sometimes, but retailers put arbitrary limits on despite payment being authenticated (Pay for my £60 weekly shop in the store but maximum £30 in the petrol station, Sainsburys? I didn't bring my wallet, looks like I'm coming back. Thanks for that.)

Is the UK most advanced? In Australia they can pay for anything up to $100 with tap. Over $100, they can still tap, but then need to enter their PIN into the terminal (i.e. no need to insert the card for PIN entry – a tap is sufficient). We don't have that in the UK.

Similar in Poland. You can always tap and then it asks for PIN or it doesn't. I expect this decision is based on the amount of the purchase and maybe some other factors.

I don't think having a higher limit makes anything more advanced. I'm fine with having a lower limit for cards, and then switching to Apple/Samsung/Google Pay for higher priced transactions.

Most advanced in Europe maybe. I rarely use anything but contactless in the UK (where I live), but often find no option for contactless elsewhere in Europe. I've never had to swipe and sign anywhere in my whole life, though.

This is how it works in the Netherlands as well, but below €25.