As much as all eyes are on Barclays right now, let us not forget that HSBC pulled out last minute today. Shameful as they were named as a launch day partner. I think they're now stating they'll support Apple Pay 'later in July'. I'm hoping, as the UK's two biggest banks, this'll be the same story for Barclays. Maybe some sort of deal going on between Apple and them?
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Apple Pay Officially Launches in the United Kingdom Today
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The fingerprint reader is obviously there, your iPhone will refuse to pay without your fingerprint, the problem is that the terminal doesn't realise it. So it thinks there is just a credit or debit card which might have been stolen from your pocket, and gives a low limit. The terminal needs to be upgraded to realise that there isn't just a card but something with more security.
Others are also reporting teething issues. We are very, very early into the launch. Hell, we're 10 hours into launch. One guy on Twitter said he managed to use it to get onto the Tube but the exit barrier wouldn't accept it.
From my first and only experience trying it this morning, it doesn't bode well using it on the tube barriers. As you say, having to hold your thumb on it is going to be slow and cumbersome, and I can see a lot of dropped phones, and other rude Londoners tutting behind as they wait for the idiot in front of them daring to hold them up a microsecond.
It should work with the Apple Watch from an iPhone 5, but it won't work on the phone (no NFC chip). But if it's disabled in the beta - then - nuts! Thanks for your help.
With an iPhone, yes. With the Watch you skip the Touch ID part.
Contactless cards are already significantly slower to process than Oyster (something like 1000ms vs 200ms). Sounds small, but this really can cause delays when you're trying to move hundreds of passengers per minute through a station! If everyone tried to use Apple Pay it'd be a disaster!
Ah that is a shame
the first question that sprung to mind when they announced Apple Pay UK is how fast it would it be. I don't fancy shelling out £300+ on an Apple Watch just for the convenience of using Apple Pay either. I'll still be using it elsewhere though! Thanks for letting me know You can do the fingerprint activation in advance if you open passbook, select the card and hold your finger on touch id. It will then say Hold Near Reader To Pay and you don't need your fingerprint at that point until it times out.
I'm seeing nothing in the passbook section of the watch app yet. I don't have my watch with me, do I need to be connected to it for the app to update on my phone?
Using my US iPhone in Liverpool, ApplePay worked at a restaurant much to the surprise of the waitress who didn't have a clue how. Then it worked at a pharmacy much to the joy of the clerk who was reading a store document explaining ApplePay, who then went and got another clerk to show off her first ApplePay customer
Haha believe me I know as I use my Barclays Contactless debit card and people are so accustomed to the flow of traffic when using oyster cards that the extra 800ms of the contactless card makes a huge difference when hundreds of people are going through the gate. Do you know how fast the Apple watch takes to register compared to a contactless card? If it is around the same I can live with that as I'm not expecting it to be faster than an Oyster card.
Thanks, I did try that as it happens (in Starbucks, not the tube), and keeping your thumb in place while manoeuvring the phone is unexpectedly awkward. I just don't see it happening on the tube barriers - you'd have to stand to the side, open the app, put your thumb on the reader, then keep it there while you joined the queue, and then present the phone to the reader, all without dropping your phone or moving your thumb of the button. Just tapping a plastic card is quite a lot faster and much easier.
My initial impressions are that in practice it's very disappointing.
Ah that is a shame
To be clear, I've not tried it on the tube yet - I was just commenting that from my one experience trying it at Starbucks, I don't see it working in practice on the tube barriers.
I was under the impression it didn't matter which way the phone was facing? Nfc has a far enough range that it should work from any angle.
Moreover, every video on Apple site showed them holding the phone normally, with the back of the device facing the the payment terminal.
You don't need to keep your Thumb in place once it switches to "Hold near reader to pay" its already authenticated at that point and will work without your thumb there. I believe this was introduced in an update after it went live in the US as people were having the same issues you describe.
The angle doesn't matter from the point of view of the reader, but you do have to get it close enough. The card reader I tried to use in Starbucks had a plastic pin-code privacy guard below the contactless reading area, so to get the phone close enough, I had to angle it to the left (with the phone in my right hand).
Yeah so I've seen, thanks. Although I can't see anything on the release notes which say that, probably just being blind
<edit>Ah yeah found it now
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