At H&M this past weekend in Southern California they wouldn't allow contactless (Apple Pay) for payments over $100. It's arbitrary, annoying, and customer-hostile.
In places where chip & PIN is ubiquitous, the idea is that if your credit card is stolen, your card can't be maxed out without your PIN for verification. AFAIK the limits don't distinguish between contactless credit cards and Apple/Google Pay - maybe they should, since the latter typically does require some kind of authentication.