Lloyds and Halifax customers can finally use Apple Pay.
From today, all Halifax customers will be able to add their credit and debit cards to Apple Pay. Lloyds Bank is rolling out their system more gradually, meaning that some people will have to wait before they can set up Apple Pay with their accounts.
Apple Pay is a contactless payment system that essentially turns your iPhone into a credit or debit card. It’s a built-in function of the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and Apple Watch, and it will also be incorporated into the soon-to-be released iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.
It works using something called NFC, or Near Field Communication, which in short means that it contains a chip that talks to the card payment machine and transfers the payment information to the merchant.
Halifax and Lloyds Bank have now joined the comprehensive list of Apple-compatible banks, which currently include American Express, first direct, HSBC, MBNA, Nationwide Building Society, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, and Ulster Bank.
Barclays, TSB, Bank of Scotland and M&S Bank are still either in the process of enabling Apple Pay or are holding out. Barclays has promised that it’s still working on the integration process.
Don’t forget to check out our 6-page article on Apple Pay in our real-world magazine, What Mobile, available in WH Smith and all good newsagents.
For more on Apple, visit What Mobile’s dedicated Apple page.