In its WWDC keynote, Apple has just announced that Apple Pay, its contactless payments system, is finally coming to the UK next month. It’ll be supported by the following banks:
The service was introduced in the US last summer, but could not arrive in Europe until the right deals with payment providers and credit card companies were in place.
Owners of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus already have the hardware they need to take advantage of Apple Pay, which allows you to simply wave your handset over a terminal to buy something.
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Back in February, Visa Europe announced that it was introducing “tokenization” – a secure way to pay with smartphones while keeping credit card details concealed – a vital prelude to bringing Apple Pay to Britain.
Apple says the service will be available to UK customers next month with Boots, Costa Coffee, Marks & Spencer and Waitrose among the retailers signed on to support it.
London’s transport authority TFL is already accepting Apple Pay payments from US tourists using the capital’s bus, train and Tube services. It’ll open that up to everyone when the service launches in the UK.
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