Apple Pay UK Launch

Apple Pay Arrives In UK.

Just a week ago, Apple launched its ApplePay service in the UK, this has already been widely available in the US for a couple of years now.

What is Apply Pay?

A combination of the finger print technology used to access your iphone together with contactless payment technology used by many banks and retailers.

In simple terms, the increasingly frequent contactless payment services where you can touch a terminal with your card and automatically pay with typing in your PIN with payments limited to £20 per transaction at the moment, you can add your debit and credit cards to your passbook on your iphone.

Rather than having to carry cards with you or remember PIN numbers, you load security access details to your iphone and it can make purchases both online and in store simply by scanning the item/bill and then using iphone’s fingerprint technology and encryption keys, you can confirm payment for your item, but without the ned for a card to be present nor the £20 transaction limit. Your fingerprint does it all.

Who Accepts Apple Pay?

In addition to the 39 Apple Stores in the UK, leading locations for everyday shopping that will accept Apple Pay include Boots UK, BP, Costa Coffee, Dune, JD Sports, KFC UK & Ireland, Liberty, LIDL, Marks & Spencer (M&S), McDonald’s UK, Nando’s, New Look, Post Office, Pret A Manger, SPAR, Starbucks, SUBWAY stores, Wagamama and Waitrose. Transport for London will also accept Apple Pay, so you can use your iPhone or Apple Watch to pay for your travel or daily commute. Many banks are already signed up to the service including Santander, RBS and Natwest. HSBC, Lloyds, Halifax and TSB are coming on stream, Barclays we do not know.

So if you have iPhone 6, iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3, you can now use Apple Pay to pay with a single touch within apps. Checking out is as easy as selecting Apple Pay and placing your finger on the Touch ID. If you have an iphone 5 or below, you cannot use ApplePay unless you sync your iphone to an AppleWatch.

Technology Will Suit Some

In its first three days after launch in UK, Apple claim that 1 million activations occurred although many have reported problems using the service.

We have used the finger print technology for some time now not just to access our iphones but also to open bank account applications, book flights etc. Undoubtedly, this is the way forwards for many tech happy people and given that you can disable your iphone in a matter of seconds if you lose it, we see this as being just as safe as carry cards and more convenient.

That said, there will also be technophobes or conspiracy theorists who will not like giving more data and access to their lives or finances and we also respect this view too.

ApplePay is there for those that want it and for this that don’t, you don’t have to use it.