Apple Pay In UK

Apple Pay is now available in the UK.

17:04 14 July 2015

Apple has launched its iPhone-based payment system, which is available on iPhone 6, 6 Plus, and Apple Watch. The software, which is made available outside of the United States for the first time, enables users to tap their phone on contactless payment points to complete transactions, working exactly like a contactless credit card. 

 

The system, which uses the TouchID fingerprint scanner, is also available on iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3. However, users must update to the latest version of iOS before they can take advantage it. 

 

In the UK, Apple Pay can be used on a host of major UK brands and banks, with the same spending limit of £20 for single contactless transactions. Meanwhile, Apple ensured the security and privacy of users saying that when a credit or debit card is added, the actual numbers are not stored on the device or Apple’s servers. 

 

Instead, each transaction is completed with a "one-time unique, dynamic security code".

 

"Apple has the brand power to bring the ethereal concept of a mobile wallet into the mainstream. The support of some of the UK’s best known retailers, from Marks & Spencer to the Post Office, doesn’t hurt either," Ernest Doku, a technology expert at uSwitch, told Mirror Tech.

 

Meanwhile, Lu Zurawski, from electronic banking company ACI Worldwide, commented: “The launch of Apple Pay UK is potentially the most significant event in consumer payments for over 50 years, since the advent of cards and ATMs."

 

"As consumers become familiar with using phone devices to make purchases, we will probably see a plateau in the issuance of plastic cards in the next few years, followed by a long but inevitable decline of cards into obscurity."