Apple Pay Launched In UK; More Than 250,000 Shops Across To Accept Payment Through The Service

Apple Pay, which allows iPhone and Apple Watch users to pay for goods and services has now been launched in the U.K. Starting July 14, more than 250,000 shops across the U.K. will accept payment through Apple Pay, according to reports.

According to a report on CNET, U.K. is the first country outside U.S. to adopt Apple Pay, which was released in October 2014. Apple Pay is a mobile technology that allows users’ to swipe their iPhones or Apple Watch on a point of sale device to purchase a product or service.

As per Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, more than one million credit cards were registered to Apple Pay within three days. Customers of Santander, NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland can use their accounts with Apple Pay from the date of launch. While Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland customers will have to wait until autumn to avail the service, HSBC and First Direct will join later this month, reports The Telegraph.

Among the top banks in U.K., Barclays is yet to partner with Apple. Barclays released its own contactless ‘bPay’ mobile payment initiative.

According to the CNET report, Apple Pay will work in 250,000 locations in the U.K. that includes the Post Office and London’s Underground contactless ticket barriers. Besides that, the service will also work at major retail chains like Boots, Costa Coffee, Marks & Spencer, Nandos and Starbucks. Initially, Apple Pay users can spend upto £20 per transaction but from September, the limit will be hiked to £30 per transaction on the contactless card. Apple Pay might contemplate to increase the limit further.

Apple is working towards launching the Apple Pay service in Canada later this year and in future, the service would also reach China and South Korea, reports 9 to 5 Mac. Currently, there is no information about the launch date of Apple Pay in various countries. The entire process will be very complex considering Apple has to negotiate with various financial institutions and retail partners on how they will split the money generated from each transaction, reports CNET.

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