Roger Fingas
U.K. institution Lloyds Bank on Friday sent an email to its customers, informing them that Apple Pay support is coming "very soon" for credit and debit card holders.
As is common with mobile transactions in the country, people will only be able to make purchases up to £20 in most cases, according to MacRumors, which obtained a copy of the email. Lloyds offered few other details, other than to list current devices that support Apple Pay.
Lloyds is one of several major U.K. banks that have promised to join Apple Pay but have yet to set a firm date. The others are Halifax, Barclays, and the Bank of Scotland.
Firms already onboard include HSBC/First Direct, MBNA, Nationwide, NatWest, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, and Ulster Bank.
One possibility is that Apple will use a rumored September 9 press event to briefly announce expanded Apple Pay support. If so, the company might also reveal plans to launch the platform in Canada. The focus of that event should be on new iPhones and an Apple TV.
Charles Martin
Malcolm Owen
Andrew O'Hara
William Gallagher
13 Comments
I approve of the thoroughness of their mailer which states which products are supported right now. PS: WWDC didn't have the standard numbers, graphs, and milestones intro. I expect them to do it this time, and I hope they cover Apple Pay. I also hope we get an entire segment devoted to new advancements in Apple Pay (namely, how Apple will make it work for purchases via a browser), and a long list of new retailers coming on board over the coming months. For the former, I would expect the NFC chip (read: SE) to be included in future Macs; and hopefully with Touch ID (although that would likely only be announced if there are new Macs, which isn't likely to happen until the October event). But how does one do Touch ID in a Mac Pro which might not even be within arm's length? Even on a iMac it would probably be anesthetically pleasing to not have that on the keyboard, but would you do that with a BT or USB keyboard? I don't think so. For the latter, If I were running Apple I would stop releasing new retailers for Apple Pay at this point but work to get more to commit to it so I can have a big fancy graphic with up and comers for the event and the posted screenshots around the web. Of course, some would still filter out because Apple can't easily control 3rd-party leaks and there is no way they would shun a retailer who is willing to formally accept Apple Pay.
Meanwhile ... Barclays remain noncommittal on the date of them rolling out Apple Pay
And Barclaycards launch the monstrosity that is bPay.
When recently in London I noticed Apple Pay advertised many places including an very importantly London Transport. Just about everybody used the tube or the buses. Every station has multiple and highly visible notices announcing that Apple pay is accepted. These are relatively low cost purchases and will not be hindered by ridiculous value limits. In fact, I noticed that it was advertised that you don't even need a ticket but can instead use your credit card directly. I would imagine this would be possible using an iphone, too. It would be great to avoid tickets altogether and just pass the iphone as you enter.
Meanwhile ... Barclays remain noncommittal on the date of them rolling out Apple Pay
And Barclaycards launch the monstrosity that is bPay.
Yet Barclays Bank in the US does support Apple Pay.
In fact, I noticed that it was advertised that you don't even need a ticket but can instead use your credit card directly. I would imagine this would be possible using an iphone, too. It would be great to avoid tickets altogether and just pass the iphone as you enter.
Since you can avoid tickets altogether and just use contactless cards (Oyster, or debit/credit), and have been able to for quite a while, this isn't such a huge step. Nice though.