Apple Pay to boost mobile payments in the UK
Howard Lake | 15 July 2015 | News
Millions of Visa debit and credit cardholders in the UK can now use their iPhones and other Apple mobile devices to make secure, contactless payment using Apple Pay.
Apple Pay can be used to touch and pay wherever Visa contactless payment is accepted. There are already more than 410,000 terminals in 250,000 locations accepting Visa with Apple Pay.
Apple Pay works on iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, Apple Watch, iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3.
At launch, people who bank with MBNA, Nationwide, NatWest, RBS, Santander, and Ulster Bank will be able to load their Visa debit or credit cards into Apple Pay with other banks to follow in the coming months, including First Direct, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds, and TSB.
Research by Visa Europe shows that there is a high demand for mobile payment solutions with 60% of Apple product users surveyed wanting to pay for goods and services using their mobile phone.
Jeremy Nicholds, Visa Europe, said:
“The pieces of the puzzle are coming together for a seismic shift from plastic to digital”.
How it works
When you add a Visa credit or debit card to Apple Pay, the actual payment card details are not stored on the device nor on Apple’s servers. Instead, Visa generates a unique token or Device Account Number which is assigned and stored on your device.
To set up Apple Pay, Visa card holders can either select the card currently used in the iTunes account or they can add a new debit or credit card. When making a purchase in store, Visa cardholders just hold the iPhone to a contactless terminal with their finger held to Touch ID.
Consumers will be covered by all the same benefits they currently receive with their debit and credit cards, including fraud protection for unauthorised purchases and widespread international acceptance.
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Are charities using it?
The day after it was introduced in the UK, we’ve not had confirmation from any charities that they are using it. But WhoacceptsApplePay lists Barnardo’s and The National Trust as the first charity adopters.
Visa told us:
“Merchants – including charity shops – that are already equipped for in-store Visa contactless payments, do not need to make any changes to accept transactions using Visa cards in Apple Pay”.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.