Two more major U.K. banks have hopped on the Apple Pay bandwagon. Lloyds and Halifax are now supported by the service, bringing the total number of Apple Pay banking partners in the U.K. to an impressive 11.
Others include Natwest, Santander, Nationwide, RBS, Ulster Bank, MBNA, American Express, HSBC, and First Direct. The only major holdout is now Barclays, which is reportedly still making up its mind, although it has expressed interest in Apple’s payments system.
Given that earlier this month the maximum U.K. Apple Pay transaction with most vendors was raised from £20 ($30) to £30 ($46), the service is now better than ever for U.K. Apple Pay users.
Contactless transactions for the first half of 2015 reportedly totalled £2.5bn in the U.K. With that number being significantly higher than the £2.32bn total spent on contactless payments in 2014, it will be fascinating to see what a difference Apple Pay makes when the figures are released for the second half of this year.
Are you a U.K. Apple Pay user? If so, what has been your experience so far? Leave your thoughts in the box below.
Source: Ars Technica
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
One response to “Lloyds Bank and Halifax customers can now use Apple Pay in the U.K.”
I’m loving Apple Pay. It’s convenient, quick and secure. I read a report recently quoting an analyst along the lines of “it’s solving a problem that consumers don’t have”, but I disagree. For all those small transactions where I’d use cash but don’t have it on me, Apple Pay is as quick. One thing I do notice is the surprise on the face of the sales assistant when I use my phone to pay – wherever I use it. Apple needs to invest much more in educating and training retail partner staff if it’s going to take off.