Apple Pay is hitting the States today, giving users the ability to pay with their iPhones, but when will we see it here in the UK?
Today sees the US launch of Apple Pay, the company’s new NFC payment system, which it hopes will “change the way you pay for things forever”. The system makes use of your iPhone or iPad (or Apple Watch in the not-too-distant future) to pay for goods and services, by simply touching your iGadget to a sensor in a participating store, and proving your identity with the TouchID fingerprint sensor. So long, fumbling around for small change or coupons.
The scheme was originally announced at Apple’s big iPhone 6 launch event, but last week during the iPad Air 2 launch Apple confirmed that today was the day for Apple Pay to hit the US. And while uptake seems to be going strong Stateside, with another 500 banks signing up for the service in recent days, not much has been said about when we poor Limeys will get to have a go, save for a horribly vague ‘sometime next year’.
According to reports, there’s still no confirmed launch date for the UK, but Pedro Sousa, head of contactless payment for Visa, claims the service will eventaully reach Europe next year and we’d be inclined to believe him.
While there isn’t anything particularly revolutionary about Apple Pay, the company certainly has the chops to give the mobile payment market a jolt, and that’s something which has been a long time coming. Provided it’s done right, it could also set new precedents for other companies wishing to offer payment services too, as Apple is reportedly putting privacy and security front and centre.
We’ll wait and see what happens to our US cousins before getting too effusive though.
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