diff --git a/backend/src/controllers/__tests__/transactionControllerLimits.test.ts b/backend/src/controllers/__tests__/transactionControllerLimits.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ec6b1491
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/controllers/__tests__/transactionControllerLimits.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from '@jest/globals';
+import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+
+const source = readFileSync(new URL('../transactionController.ts', import.meta.url), 'utf8');
+
+describe('transactionController pagination limits', () => {
+  it('caps transaction pages at the intended small maximum', () => {
+    expect(source).toContain('const MAX_LIMIT = 50;');
+    expect(source).not.toContain('const MAX_LIMIT = 500;');
+    expect(source).toContain('return Math.min(parsed, MAX_LIMIT);');
+  });
+});
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/backend/src/controllers/transactionController.ts b/backend/src/controllers/transactionController.ts
index a5980689..1a1dea5f 100644
--- a/backend/src/controllers/transactionController.ts
+++ b/backend/src/controllers/transactionController.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import { AppError } from '../errors/AppError.js';
 import { asyncHandler } from '../utils/asyncHandler.js';
 
 const DEFAULT_LIMIT = 20;
-const MAX_LIMIT = 500;
+const MAX_LIMIT = 50;
 
 function parseLimit(value: unknown): number {
   if (typeof value !== 'string') return DEFAULT_LIMIT;