Apple Pay To Hit UK Early In 2015

Mobile payments have come a long way since their inception. The big guns in the war are Apple Pay and Google Wallet. The US is usually first in the battle, but close behind is the UK. Many people, including myself, are looking forward to Apple Pay’s arriving in the UK. From the latest reports, it looks like we are not going to have to wait too long either. Apple is in negotiations with the major banks in Britain, with a view to launching the touch-to-pay service within the first half of 2015, according to The Telegraph.

A report claims that one of the banks is uncomfortable with the sheer amount of their customer data that Apple wants to collect. The alarm is that Apple may use this information to launch “an invasion of the banking industry”. It is also theorised that none of these major banks is wanting to miss out on bringing on board the Apple Pay system.

Currently Apple Pay allows iPhone 6 and 6 Plus users to upload their credit and debit card details to a ‘secure element’ within the iPhone. The system will then allow for the user to pay for purchases by tapping the phone onto a merchants’ terminal. Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint scanner will then be used to authenticate the purchase.

Currently the service is proving to be a success in the US. It is, in fact, accounting for one percent of all digital payments in the first full month of operation and it is accounting for half of touch-to-pay transactions in the fast food chain, McDonalds in the month of November.

[Image via ibtimes]

SOURCE: http://www.stuff.tv/apple/apple-pay-arrive-uk-first-half-2015/news