Apple Pay update: HSBC now on board via First Direct

HSBC was primarily listed as a launch partner for Apple Pay’s debut in U.K but it ended up missing while other banks went live. Finally HSBC and its subsidiary First Direct are on board to support Apple’s contactless payment solution.

First Direct is an Internet- and phone-based HSBC brand with no actual branches. Customers can make payments and withdrawals at HSBC locations and in some cases even in Post Office branches. Both providers will allow credit and debit cards to be linked onto Apple Pay. Recently few more banks went live with Apple Pay; among them Nationwide, NatWest, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander and Ulster Bank are worth mentioning.

Apple Pay can be used at over 250,000 retail locations in the U.K. Contactless payments are accepted almost everywhere including London Transport and even major high street stores like McDonalds, Starbucks, Costa and Subway. Retail purchases are restricted to the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, and Apple Watch But online transactions also support the iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3, reports Gizmodo .

Bank of Scotland, Lloyds, M&S Bank, TSB, Coutts and Halifax all reportedly plan to launch the service later this year. No official announcements have been made regarding future countries for Apple Pay. But the next target market is Canada which could be getting the service in November, says Apple Insider . Last October, Apple Pay originally started its service in the U.S.

Most notably is Barclays seems to be the only bank in U.K that is yet to take a call for its customers to have Apple Pay access. To date the bank is not listed in the ‘Coming Soon’ section of Apple’s official Apple Pay website. It is speculated that Barclay’s proprietary ventures into contactless payments systems might hold it back from offering Apple Pay to its customers.

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