Banks in the U.K. Gearing Up for Apple Pay Launch as Santander Allows Customers to Register Cards

[MacRumors]

Apple Pay in the United Kingdom has yet to officially launch, but some banks are preparing for the upcoming release of the payments service and have begun allowing customers to register their cards for use with Apple Pay.

Several Santander customers on the MacRumors forums have been able to successfully add their cards to Passbook for use with Apple Pay, making the cards available on both their iPhones and their Apple Watches.

Customers registering their cards are also receiving confirmation emails from Santander, informing them that they're now able to use Apple Pay. As of the time of writing, customers have not yet tested the Apple Pay service at a location that accepts Apple Pay. One customer was told the bank's system is not live and that customers who were able to mistakenly register early would be de-registered, so it is not clear if the registered cards will be able to be used to make purchases.

Activating a Santander card with Apple Pay at this time requires U.K. users to set their region to U.S., add a card, and change their region back to U.K., at which point the card remains available in Passbook. It's clearly a workaround, but a sign that banks are preparing to accept Apple Pay in the near future.

Other banks, like MBNA and Nationwide, are giving error messages like "Contact Card Issuer" and "Your Issuer Does Not Yet Offer Support."

It is not clear exactly when Apple Pay will become officially available in the United Kingdom, but during its Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple said the payments service would launch in July. Recently released employee training documents have suggested the launch could come next week, on Tuesday, July 14. 250,000 merchants are expected to support Apple Pay in the U.K. when it is released.

Update: One of the Santander customers who was able to activate his card for use with Apple Pay was able to use it at a McDonald's to make a purchase.

Update 2: Santander customers who were able to activate their cards are now receiving email notifications letting them know the Apple Pay service is no longer available for use.

Article Link: Banks in the U.K. Gearing Up for Apple Pay Launch as Santander Allows Customers to Register Cards

 

[Ubuntu]

Nice. Here's hoping for Natwest next!

 

[dannys1]

Activating a Santander card with Apple Pay at this time requires U.K. users to set their region to U.S., add a card, and change their region back to U.K., at which point the card remains available in Passbook.

Or we could just wait like a week?

 

[6836838]

Santander. That great British banking institution

 

[bbfc]

Come on HSBC. Can't wait for this. I work for one of the launch retailers so looking forward to using this.

 

[Mike MA]

I'm curious if some other countries will join within the lifecycle of my iPhone 6

 

[UKPoliticsGuy]

Have the soulless ghouls at Barclays caved in yet?

 

[Sirious]

Can't wait to use it on the TfL network, in London! It will be so much easier.

 

[peterh988]

Have the soulless ghouls at Barclays caved in yet?

They're throwing their lot in with Betamax, I think.

 

[576316]

Getting seriously angry at Barclays...they need to say something soon. It's totally pathetic if they just remain quiet even after the official launch comes and goes. They've just released their totally pointless 'bPay' rubbish which can never hope to be as widespread as Apple Pay. Even if they're trying to give consumers choices, they shouldn't be blocking Apple Pay. That's the opposite of consumer choice. If they can't get off their greedy a**es and start supporting Apple Pay, I (and many others) will be finding a new bank.

 

[HighFlyingBirds]

Not working for me with Santander!

 

[576316]

Have the soulless ghouls at Barclays caved in yet?

No. But hopefully they will when they realise how much of a failure their bPay rubbish is gonna be and how many customers are about to jump ship.

 

[afd]

Doesn't sound like it's worth the effort yet. Passbook..... what's that??

 

[martygras9]

Have the soulless ghouls at Barclays caved in yet?

Considering the peddling Apple seems to do for them (only in the states?) I'm amazed it HASN'T happened:

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/finance/instant_credit

 

[welshboyuk]

Come on Barclays or myself and my business accounts are off

 

[thekeyring]

Wouldn't it be better to show this on an iPhone 6, as the previous article informed us no one is buying Apple watches?

 

[576316]

Come on Barclays or myself and my business accounts are off

...and so many others. I don't think they fully understand just how many customers they're gonna lose over this. Clearly not something they're bothered about. It's odd that they're supporting it in the U.S. but not here. I'm alright with them having their own wireless payment system (bPay) as long as they also accept Apple Pay and give me the choice. Blocking Apple Pay is not pro-consumer choice. Apple should just block the bPay app on iOS and give them a taste of their own medicine.

 

[stridemat]

Getting seriously angry at Barclays...they need to say something soon. It's totally pathetic if they just remain quiet even after the official launch comes and goes. They've just released their totally pointless 'bPay' rubbish which can never hope to be as widespread as Apple Pay. Even if they're trying to give consumers choices, they shouldn't be blocking Apple Pay. That's the opposite of consumer choice. If they can't get off their greedy a**es and start supporting Apple Pay, I (and many others) will be finding a new bank.

As petty as it sounds I have moved away from Barclays for this very reason. Move to a Bank / Credit Card that fulfills your needs.

 

[displaced]

Have the soulless ghouls at Barclays caved in yet?

I tweeted them and they replied that once they've finished feasting on the bones of the first-born from every village in the UK, they'll get right on it.

In all seriousness, I wish they'd get their finger out and just support Apple Pay. Their banking website and iPhone app are really great, so I'm really surprised they're so tardy. Unlike the Co-Operative Bank, whose website and apps look like the product of a work experience kid.

 

[Zxxv]

Next weeks news story

Macdonalds UK reports record breaking sales... puts success on apple pay

in other news

UK's obesity problem continues to grow...goverment says apple to blame and wants to ban apple pay and apple devices

in a place not so far away

macrumours forum members say apple not to blame for the uk obesity problem but macdonalds for serving them yummy food at cheap prices. Apple pay just makes it easier. Says government really wants to ban apple pay due to their inability to hack iphones

 

[hybroid]

Natwest have confirmed they are supporting Apple Pay and even have a Communities page dedicated to it. Good stuff.

Really looking forward to using Apple Watch for Tube/Bus Oyster journeys and daily lunch purchases.

 

[afd]

Couldn't resist, tried to register my Santander debit card. Didn't work.

 

[Cronowerx]

I'm curious if some other countries will join within the lifecycle of my iPhone 6

Yesterday I was getting a new credit card from Bank of Montreal (BMO Bank) here in Toronto and I drilled the teller to give me all the info on "Apple Pay Canada". She said its being tested, and that BMO Bank is going to have Apple Pay in Canada near the end of November!

 

[Billberryjuice]

Getting seriously angry at Barclays...they need to say something soon. It's totally pathetic if they just remain quiet even after the official launch comes and goes. They've just released their totally pointless 'bPay' rubbish which can never hope to be as widespread as Apple Pay. Even if they're trying to give consumers choices, they shouldn't be blocking Apple Pay. That's the opposite of consumer choice. If they can't get off their greedy a**es and start supporting Apple Pay, I (and many others) will be finding a new bank.

As I've mentioned elsewhere in the forum, I just wouldn't bother wasting any energy fretting over it, it's exactly the same as the Fitbit HealthKit debacle, if you care enough to change banks then just do it now as their silence indicates their commitment to the path you don't want.

 

[3listone]

Does not work anymore, Santander must have been doing tests not expecting any one to work out how to do it.
However possible means it coming soon.