Apple Pay, which gives iPhone users a fast and secure way to pay for goods, is officially launching in the UK from July.
The tech giant announced the news at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 8. iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch owners can take advantage of the service. You use the same service in the same way you do with a contactless debit or credit card. Just simply touch a contactless terminal with your iPhone to pay for a service or product.
Halifax, Natwest, American Express, Santander, RBS, Nationwide, HSBC, First Direct, TSB, Lloyds Bank are just some of several banks who have agreed to support Apple Pay.
Apple Pay also works outside of shops and restaurants. You can use it to make purchases within an app. Just simply touch to pay and the relevant app will authenticate your identity using your fingerprint or passcode. That means you needn’t enter your card number or leave the app to make a payment.
Apple Pay security
It’s also a very secure service. The card number isn’t stored to the device when you add a credit or debit card to Apple Pay. A unique Device Account number is instead assigned, encrypted and stored in the Secure Element of your device.
“Apple Pay, combined with MasterCard’s digital payments technology, gives consumers a simple, convenient and secure way to shop,” said Mark Barnett, President of MasterCard UK & Ireland.
“MasterCard was first in the world to offer contactless and mobile payment solutions, and Britons have rapidly adopted tap and pay behaviour. In the UK, we make more than 10 contactless payments every second, and on Transport for London alone, commuters tap to pay over one million times a day.
“With this clear shift in payment preference so strongly embedded, we are excited that MasterCard cardholders will soon be able to make payments from some of their Apple devices, knowing that every purchase is secure and offers all the same guarantees and benefits they’ve come to expect from using their MasterCard.”
Apple Pay users will receive the same awards and benefits offered by their payment cards.
For more on Apple, visit What Mobile’s dedicated Apple page.
