Apple Pay has been launched today in the UK, allowing iPhone 6 users to make contactless payments through ‘tap and pay’.
The near-field communication payment service was launched in the US in October and allows customers to pay in store and within apps through their iPhone 6, iPad Air 2 and Apple Watch.
iPhone 6 users need not download any additional app to avail the service as the NFC antenna will allow them to make payment by holding the iPhone near the contactless reader with finger on Touch ID.
The completion of the transaction is notified through a beep.
Apple Watch users just have to double-click the side button and hold the display of the device up to the contactless reader to process the transaction, and similarly a beep will notify the transaction.
Some of the banks that are embracing the new technology in the UK are American Express, HSBC, Nationwide, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander and Ulster Bank.
Companies including BP, KFC, Subway, Starbucks, McDonalds, the Post Office and Transport for London are accepting the new age payment system in the UK.
The company said that it will not save any of its user’s transaction information, and only the most recent purchases are kept in Passbook for the convenience of its customers, and it will not ask for the card number or security code for the transaction to process.
Visa Europe said that the UK cardholders who are customers of RBS, MBNA, Nationwide and Santander will be able to load their cards and use Apple Pay starting today.
However, customers from Lloyds, HSBC and TSB will have to wait until the service becomes available to them in the coming months.
