Apple Pay launches in the UK

Following media leaks in the week before, it was no surprise on Tuesday morning when banks and payments providers began confirming the launch of Apple Pay.However, industry insiders are already describing the introduction as a potentially seminal moment for both payments and the biometric industry.”Apple Pay is huge,” Dave Birch, innovation director at Consult Hyperion told Planet Biometrics.Users of Apple's iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch are now able to use Apple Pay at over 250,000 shops in the UK that accept contactless payments – and payments within apps using iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3.Birch said the latter factor will prove the most important, because Apple Pay brings chip-and-PIN levels of security to mobile and internet payments.”It's all about app-and-pay, not tap-and-pay,” he said.Mastercard was quick to note that the introduction of Apple Pay underlines the maturity of the payments market in Britain.”Innovation in UK payments means it's fast becoming the most advanced market in the world and the arrival of Apple Pay heralds this new era. We will see more change in the next five years than we've seen in the last 50, bringing even more convenience and security for consumers,” said Mark Barnett, President of MasterCard UK & Ireland.British banks have also hailed the tech's potential:”As part of our goal to be number one, we are absolutely focused on giving our customers the best and most innovative experience possible,” Ross McEwan, CEO of Royal Bank of Scotland, told Planet Biometrics. “Whether on the high street, in a small shop or on the go within apps, Apple Pay offers a simple and secure way to pay. We are pleased to be among the first UK banks to offer this service to our customers.”In a statement, Mastercard wrote that its MasterCard Digital Enablement Service (MDES) is the key to enabling MasterCard credit or debit cardholders to use Apple Pay. “It is a secure payment system that has been built with 'EMV cryptography' – ensuring that transactions can take full advantage of the most advanced payment security in the world.”For others, the most important factor was the broad appeal the payments service instantly gains given Apple's penetration in the UK – strong sales of the iPhone 6 saw Apple increase its share of the UK smartphone market to a record 42.5 percent last November.Dr Felicity Hardley, Senior Lecturer, Westminster Business School, said Apple Pay will become the preferred contactless payment method.”A significant number of consumers already have the technology to utilise Apple Pay which means they can 'try it out' with relative ease and no additional expense. “Consumers are increasingly comfortable with contactless payment methods due to being able to use debit or credit cards on public transport and in many retail outlets already. This takes out some of the fear factor in this new payment method. The fact that Apple already has so many major retailers signed up is the final signal to many consumers that this payment method should be safe.”The purported arrival of the biometric, contactless payment solution was accidently announced in a Tweet by HSBC bank over last weekend, and a previous leak by a supermarket. Major UK brands including Boots, Waitrose and the Post Office have already signed up, with the same spending limit of £20 in place for single contactless transactions.Meanwhile, British banks such as First Direct, HSBC, Nationwide, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander and Ulster Bank are on-board. The initial limit will be £20 (US$31), but this limit will be raised to £30 in autumn 2015 for all UK retailers.To help new users adapt to Apple Pay, NatWest have created a guide to getting started. So has RBS.

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