Apple Pay Now Supports HSBC and First Direct in the UK

[macnewbie91]

Here in Denmark we have basically just this everywhere.

http://ingenico.us/terminals/ipp350/

Which supports NFC, yet not even mention of Denmark. And Banks are douchebags they rather push this CurrentC type ******** than adopt the proper way.

There isn't a single bank out there pushing a service MasterCard & Visa aren't even backing. Where did you get your information from? The only ones with an advantage with the CurrentC system are the retailers.

Many of the CurrentC retailers are even backing off and supporting Apple Pay AND CurrentC - look at merchants like Target, Kohls, Dunkin Donuts, and Best Buy for example - they are supporting Apple Pay in the future as official partners.

 

[arnoz]

I'm now in! I guess I'll have to go buy a coffee or something to try this out...

 

[peterh988]

Still no Barclays...

Just had an email from Barclaycard offering 50% off their bPay stuff.

Looks like the fire sale has started already!

It's still a no from me, even if it was free.

 

[Davmeister]

Apple Pay today expanded its participating issuers list within the United Kingdom, adding support for both HSBC and First Direct customers. Both banks were announced as starting partners for the UK branch of Apple Pay, but were delayed until late July at the last minute.

HSBC and First Direct join a list of UK Apple Pay partners that includes: American Express, MBNA, Nationwide, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander and Ulster Bank. Still listed as coming soon are: Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Bank, M&S Bank and TSB. Although Barclays has confirmed "imminent" support for the contactless payment service, the bank has yet to be listed on Apple's Apple Pay UK site.

Along with the announcement of HSBC and First Direct support, customers using Apple Pay in the UK will also be able to start taking advantage of the service at both Five Guys restaurants and Wilko stores across the country. UK support of Apple Pay launched on July 14, and has been steadily expanding its roster of retail partners and financial institutions in the subsequent weeks.

Article Link: Apple Pay Now Supports HSBC and First Direct in the UK

Sorry Macrumors you are posting misinformation: Barclays has NOT confirmed imminent support. What has happened is someone who works there has suggested it might launch soon (an exec). No public announcement and not even coming soon on Apples page AND bPay makes it unlikely to be before Lloyds group.

 

[DotCom2]

erm not used a pen for card payments in about 10 years lol. contactless cards and before that chip and pin.

You must not live in the U.S. then.

 

[OllyW]

You must not live in the U.S. then.

It is a thread about Apple Pay in the UK.

 

[starnox]

My bank Lloyds still isn't supporting Apple Pay so I just went to www.natwest.co.uk and opened an account online, took about 5 minutes, then a few days later I got a card in the mail. Then I just transfer £50 across from my Lloyds every now and then.

I probably will keep my Lloyds account in the long run, but it is a risky situation for them, as now I've got two accounts and I could easily switch everything to NatWest now on a whim. I suppose I'm worried that Lloyds might be dragging their feet on future technologies as well, its not like they've even mentioned why they are going to be so late to this party.

Do they not think its worth putting much effort into it? Or do they think there is some security concerns or reasons to be cautious, or do they just lack the technological skills to get the implementation done on time, or do they have a messy management structure where they can't get a decision made quickly, etc.. etc..

Anyway, if someone else is bored of waiting, I 100% recommend opening a free
NatWest account, they have a nice and easy ID verification system on the website, so you just upload a photo of your passport or driving license and everything else is taken care of, I didn't even need to visit a branch.

Lloyds have been a bit pants since the split with TSB. There are no staff in my local branch anymore. I tried to upgrade my Lloyds credit cards from free ones to ones that you pay for and they refused, said I was not eligible and wouldn't give me a reason why, shot themselves in the foot there a bit refusing my money. Luckily I also have a NatWest account and Amex to try Apple Pay with.

I reckon Lloyds management is all over the place at the moment. Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland are all the same bank behind the scenes. As for TSB I'm pretty sure they still share all their technology with Lloyds at the moment which I guess is why they are lagging behind (Their online banking and apps are the same, just have different skins).

 

[GreyOS]

The raw numbers may be a priority, but he mis-applied them. With a population of 3 x Austraia, a NFC number of 2 x Australia, the raw numbers as stated can only favour the UK. The per capita density is irrelevant, it could just mean we have a lower number of shops per capita. Possibly all of them with NFC.

Right, the person you quoted was trying to argue in favour of UK though. Thanks for the clarifications though.

 

[TooMuch]

Now it's here, I can tell those missing out it's not that exciting. And getting your phone out, double clicking home button, picking the right card, waiting for the print reader -- it's not much quicker than getting your wallet out and holding up the right card.

You are making it harder than it needs to be. You just need to place your thumb on the home button. You do not need to double click.

As for picking the right card, why not make the card that you use the most the default card? This way you dont have to worry about changing the card.

 

[DotCom2]

It is a thread about Apple Pay in the UK.

ZINGGGGGG!
Got me!

 

[coolfactor]

It's not very clever, by the time I find my phone, press my finger on the phone and get it to read correctly I would have been out of the shop if I just used my contactless card. No point!

"Find my phone"
"Get it to read correctly"

You're clearly in the minority. It's well-accepted that phones in pockets are far more accessible that cards in wallets. And Touch ID works well. So you're doing it wrong.

 

[Lexical]

Added and activated my HSBC debit cards no problem. Added my HSBC credit card as well which isn't contactless but thats still waiting activation even though i entered the code for it.

As a side note, do you get notifications of transactions on your accounts even outside of payments made using apple pay?

 

[Polaroid]

Just used watch at CEX and McDonalds how exciting lol worked with no flaws

 

[gnasher729]

Same thing in UK! But seriously you cant compare the 2 when it comes to security and safety. Cards do get lost or stolen, prone to fraudulent activities etc. Phone may get lost or stolen but it will need to have a live finger to successfully make a payment.

ApplePay _is_ safer that way, because you can pay with a stolen credit or debit card, but you cannot pay with a stolen iPhone. The problem at the moment, which will hopefully be solved, is that the NFC readers right now don't know the difference yet, so they use the same £20 limit for ApplePay that they use (quite reasonably) for cards.

 

[Jim400]

Briefly had my HSBC debit card added (and made a purchase) but no luck with my credit card at all.

During the troubleshooting with HSBC and Apple we restored my Watch to factory settings and then tried again and now nothing will add at all, just getting an error message saying 'Contact your card issuer for more information'. HSBC now saying it's VISA's fault and not theirs.......hardly impressive is it.

 

[576316]

You'll be waiting a long time before you see Barclays added to that list...
They have invested a lot in bPay www.bpay.co.uk

What have they paid for? All they've done is stick an NFC chip (which exists inside all of their cards) into a sticker, a cheap plastic band and a keyring. Can't really see what they've invested in.

 

[gnasher729]

Disappointing that none of the major 3 UK supermarkets accept Apple Pay. Only time I've used it was in a Spar while on holiday in France. I'd left wallet at hotel and was glad to see they accepted contactless payments.

I'm quite sure that Waitrose, M&S, Lidl, Aldi and Tesco all accept Apple Pay.

 

[flaw600]

I just don't understand all this, "now accepted at..." rollout.

I have to upgrade my capture device by October 1 2015 (or something like that). I'm a small Texas dental office. I had a new merchant service court me, promise me lower percentage cost and provide me with the new compliant state of the art machines.

All was installed two weeks ago. I now accept apple pay and Google Wallet. No one asked me.

So what's the big deal?

The big deal is that many small businesses don't want the unnecessary expense of redoing their machines and it becomes even more expensive in the short-term for large businesses. More businesses have to be like yours - forward thinking.

 

[flaw600]

But did you have contactless cards in the US? We're all used to using contactless cards, where we just hold the card up to the terminal. Before that we had chip and pin, where we had to insert and enter a 4 digit code. Both are quicker than having to sign, which I read many places in the US still did until recently? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Contactless cards still require you to get the wallet out and then get the card out. About as much time as required for Apple Pay (unless you're adding in unnecessary steps like double clicking the home button) and Apple Pay is more secure since it requires your fingerprint (or passcode, I believe)

 

[gnasher729]

It's still early days obviously but I am using Apple Pay where I can to encourage uptake. Tesco are losing a lot of my small purchases to Morrison's because they don't support any contactless technology at all in any of my local shops, big or small. The food is better too as a bonus...

The problem is that lots of British customers are very polite, so when they are annoyed that they cannot pay contactless, they don't complain to the merchant, but go somewhere else. I wouldn't be surprised if the number of complaints that Sainsbury's is getting is close to zero as well. I myself prefer to complain, to give them a chance to fix a problem.

 

[macnewbie91]

The big deal is that many small businesses don't want the unnecessary expense of redoing their machines and it becomes even more expensive in the short-term for large businesses. More businesses have to be like yours - forward thinking.

The government should play hardball with them.

Either upgrade your sales terminals or face a fine for each month the equipment is lacking. Give them a tax break and a discount for upgrading their equipment. I think those new, large screen Verifone readers are $900 - give the businesses a $100 discount, a tax free payment, and a $800 tax credit.

A lot of the small businesses are using dial up for their transactions, still. They've had many years to upgrade to readers that are modern. It is the owner's problem if they don't want to cover the investment of a new POS system. Part of having a business is operating costs.

 

[flaw600]

Is this sarcastic? And if not Apple Watch solves all of these gripes

Your phone should be in your pocket. Or at worst in a purse. Where your wallet should be. That still requires you to get the card out so you don't charge it with the wrong card. And if you only have 1 card, well, it'll be the default for ApplePay. And I've never had a problem with fingerprint recognition when I actually put my finger on the whole ring (sometimes I get tired and mis-put my finger). Never had a problem with ApplePay.

EDIT: Huh. I thought that it'd keep the prev. response as well. Well, damn. In that case, sorry luckydcxx, I was trying to agree with you.

 

[flaw600]

Briefly had my HSBC debit card added (and made a purchase) but no luck with my credit card at all.

During the troubleshooting with HSBC and Apple we restored my Watch to factory settings and then tried again and now nothing will add at all, just getting an error message saying 'Contact your card issuer for more information'. HSBC now saying it's VISA's fault and not theirs.......hardly impressive is it.

That's HSBC being not impressive - not ApplePay

 

[GreyOS]

You are making it harder than it needs to be. You just need to place your thumb on the home button. You do not need to double click.

As for picking the right card, why not make the card that you use the most the default card? This way you dont have to worry about changing the card.

I'm referring to the iOS 9 feature where you can double click to pre-select a card and get it ready. This is useful because I have two cards where the split is about 60/40 in use. So although a default helps, it quite often doesn't.

Contactless cards still require you to get the wallet out and then get the card out. About as much time as required for Apple Pay

That's why I said 'not much quicker' ??????


I just feel that Apple Pay is one of those things where the anticipation of it was exciting, but when you actually get to use it.... you're just paying for something, ultimately. It's not exciting. That's how I feel.

 

[GreyOS]

And by the way, card or apple pay, I find the bottleneck is often actually the cashier and the terminal getting ready for a payment.