Barclays Planning to Launch Apple Pay Support in UK in Early 2016

[V.K.]

I was pretty shocked to get a reply considering most social media comments got ignored.

yes. Email replies are certainly unusual but banks routinely reply on social media. Barclays seems to be an exception. I often prod Canadian banks about Apple Pay coming to Canada on Twitter and they reply almost every time. They don't usually say anything interesting unfortunately but that's a different issue. They did become a bit more coy recently. The latest response was something to the effect "stay tuned". Still I bet Barclays will get Apple Pay before it shows up in Canada.

 

[testcard]

When you look at how long the universe has been here, 4-8 months is imminent.

When you look at the lifespan of a May Fly...

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

Slightly off topic, but how is apple pay working in the UK? I ask because I heard that although all machines are NFC, there may still be differences that would prevent Apple Pay from working on some (older) machines.

Here in the US it is slowly (painfully so) getting better as vendors turn on their machines or add them in their retail locations (and yet require signatures and sometimes even IDs-- SMH).

CM, when you went on your business trip with the AMEX/Apple Pay, did the charges show up as AplPay? I get that prefix on my purchases, but there is the vendor name on there as well. I think that Concur (my company's expense report service) may update their database and remove that prefix automagically, so we can automate the expense report.

 

[ioioos]

Nat West are doing a good job promoting Apple Pay in the UK. They are really going for it.

 

[displaced]

Slightly off topic, but how is apple pay working in the UK? I ask because I heard that although all machines are NFC, there may still be differences that would prevent Apple Pay from working on some (older) machines.

Here in the US it is slowly (painfully so) getting better as vendors turn on their machines or add them in their retail locations (and yet require signatures and sometimes even IDs-- SMH).

I bank with Barclays and my wife with TSB. Our joint account was with the Co-operative Bank. Since none of those were in Apple Pay to begin with, and we'd been pretty disappointed with Co-Op, we moved our joint account to Santander.

So, we've been using Apple Pay for about 6 weeks now with our Santander joint account.

It's been great. Every terminal which I used to use my contactless debit card with has worked fine with Apple Pay.

Even the coffee man and sandwich lady who come to our office in their vans every day have 3G handheld payment terminals which work great with Apple Pay. Since the phone immediately pops up with the amount paid, there's no need to hang around to wait for the receipt to print (you're not going to want to return a sandwich or a coffee anyway!). Just beep and go.

My local newsagent (literally two doors down the road from my house) also supports contactless and Apple Pay. In the mornings the small shop's full of kids and adults buying stuff for their journey to school or work. You can absolutely fly through with contactless or Apple Pay. I'm generally crap at making sure I've got cash, so it's great now that debit card payments are actually much quicker than cash!

 

[Bazooka-joe]

Slightly off topic, but how is apple pay working in the UK? I ask because I heard that although all machines are NFC, there may still be differences that would prevent Apple Pay from working on some (older) machines.

Here in the US it is slowly (painfully so) getting better as vendors turn on their machines or add them in their retail locations (and yet require signatures and sometimes even IDs-- SMH).

Yeah it's pretty good in the UK. Most stores have contactless terminals now and I haven't had an issue with payment anywhere

 

[patjem]

I'm going to London in November for WTM, World Travel Market and looking forward to trying Apple Pay with my AW in the Tube!

 

[peterh988]

I guess they realised the bPay system* was a dud and went with the flow.

*A sticker for your phone, a bracelet (looks funfair quality) or a keyring.

 

[mazz0]

Is this just Barclays bank debit card holders, or will it cover Barclaycard credit cards too?

 

[welshboyuk]

Bet it doesn't arrive until around April next year! There just holding out but longer to recoup some cost.

 

[lionsy]

*Taps watch*

Uh-huh. Take your time Barclays! It's astonishing that banks like Natwest can be so ahead of the curve while places like Barclays can lag behind so much, all in the same country. You'd think they'd want to keep pace for the sake of their customers!

 

[PJWilkin]

somehow I don't think that will mean much to them

Barclays has ignored its customers over Apple Pay for months, with vague statements about 'in the future'.
In the mean time it's been pushing any other method to pay except Apple Pay.

I for one am now going to vote with my money and move current accounts out of Barclays to one that offers Apple Pay.

It's a shame to think Barclays used to be a bank that was innovative towards Technology, but recently they seem to have lost it.

Lets hope the morons who decided to stall on Apple Pay get kicked, more likely however is they will be given a nice big bonus while the counter staff get shafted.

 

[JimmyTW87]

I'm pretty happy all the banks are getting onboard finally, my question is related more to the £30 per transaction limit.

Is this likely to be lifted here in the UK so we can finally leave our cards at home? For the digital wallet to succeed i presume this will have to go. Can existing POS units cope with larger transactions. Apple Pay is far more intrisically secure than a contactless card so I'd have thought Apple might want to persuade retailers/banks to raise the limit.

But what would need to change and who's responsibility is it to make the required changes?

I'm just curious as the US users can make large purchases but they have an otherwise archaic Point of Sale system in most places, requiring signatures etc...compared to the UK where contactless and Chip and Pin have been here for 10 years or more.

 

[PJWilkin]

I guess they realised the bPay system* was a dud and went with the flow.

*A sticker for your phone, a bracelet (looks funfair quality) or a keyring.

A sticker that cost you money to buy

 

[PJWilkin]

Is this just Barclays bank debit card holders, or will it cover Barclaycard credit cards too?

I suspect it's both

Barclays have failed big time on this

 

[nutmac]

Yawn. I have a Barclay card for US market and it is the only one that requires phone call verification. And the last time I verified, I was on hold for more than 30 minutes. I've since upgraded to iPhone 6s Plus and guess what? Barclay card is unverified.

 

[Mercenary]

I was speaking to the guy who sold me my 6s on launch day about it. He also found it weird about Barclays as if you take out a payment plan/loan with Apple it's handled by Barclays.

The £30 limit applies most places but if they have upgraded their back end software to see Touch ID as a form of pin then there is no limit. Like at Apple, you can buy anything with Apple Pay as they have upgraded and I've seen a few other retailers have signs saying they have too.

 

[2457282]

CM, when you went on your business trip with the AMEX/Apple Pay, did the charges show up as AplPay? I get that prefix on my purchases, but there is the vendor name on there as well. I think that Concur (my company's expense report service) may update their database and remove that prefix automagically, so we can automate the expense report.

Unfortunately my company (that also uses Concur for travel and Amex for the CC) told me that they are reviewing the Apple Pay thing and that we are not allowed to use Apple Pay at this time. These are the same folks that have turned off touch ID on Good for email. SMH - slow and conservative, we just upgraded to Explorer 11 last month by the way, so that's something. ARG!!!

 

[Robert.Walter]

I was speaking to the guy who sold me my 6s on launch day about it. He also found it weird about Barclays as if you take out a payment plan/loan with Apple it's handled by Barclays.

The £30 limit applies most places but if they have upgraded their back end software to see Touch ID as a form of pin then there is no limit. Like at Apple, you can buy anything with Apple Pay as they have upgraded and I've seen a few other retailers have signs saying they have too.

I like most things Apple but the credit card is a lousy value compared to many others out there.

 

[tmiw]

I'm just curious as the US users can make large purchases but they have an otherwise archaic Point of Sale system in most places, requiring signatures etc.

They can't even do chip correctly. Here's a video I filmed the other day showing chip taking ~10 seconds to run (vs. faster outside the US):

It might be a bit faster with chip and signature (the vast majority of US cards), but somehow I doubt that. I really don't have much faith in retailers doing NFC correctly here either, if they even bother to turn it on. Frankly I can see Samsung Pay becoming more popular than Apple/Android Pay here simply because of the former's ability to emulate swiping a magnetic stripe card.

In slightly better news though, at least small businesses seem to be keeping NFC turned on. It also works somewhat well at these locations even if I still have to sign with it.

 

[Brenster]

Slightly off topic, but how is apple pay working in the UK? I ask because I heard that although all machines are NFC, there may still be differences that would prevent Apple Pay from working on some (older) machines.

Here in the US it is slowly (painfully so) getting better as vendors turn on their machines or add them in their retail locations (and yet require signatures and sometimes even IDs-- SMH).

Quite a few major chains accepted Apple Pay pretty much from the off. Costa Coffee, Starbucks, M&S etc all have signs up in their branches saying they accept it. The London underground accepts it (I'm 'oop North' so haven't used it yet). I've seen TV adverts by major banks like HSBC & Santander saying they support it - and that's all the advert is saying 'We support Apple Pay'.

Certainly use it to pay for things where it's accepted and my purchase is under the credit limit and staff in most outlets don't find it novel or remarkable when someone presents their phone or watch as payment.

In my own limited experience and observations, Apple Pay is a roaring success over here.

 

[Kebabselector]

Too late Barclays, I've already closed 2 accounts (had for 27 years), once my mortgage deal expires I'll be moving my joint acc and the mortgage to another provider (probably Santander as that's where I opened an account). Only 'issue' I have with Apple Pay is its too easy to spend!

 

[Mr. Donahue]

My bank is the only credit union left in the USA that hasn't joined Apple Pay. But I just got confirmation they're gonna jump on Apple Pay in November. Finally!!! So exited. For sure gonna get an Apple Watch now. Can't wait!

 

[mikejobson]

I'm going to London in November for WTM, World Travel Market and looking forward to trying Apple Pay with my AW in the Tube!

The tube is the only downside to the Apple Pay world. Basically you have Oyster... which is quick and easy, then you have contactless debt / credit cards which take about half a second more and slows it down going through the gate but recently I've been hearing the Apple Pay using a phone / watch is even slower. The last thing you need on a busy commute through a London tube station is getting held up by holding a phone or watch at the gates. You'd get about 10 people all looking at you and judging you!!

 

[scottish]

They can't even do chip correctly. Here's a video I filmed the other day showing chip taking ~10 seconds to run (vs. faster outside the US):

It might be a bit faster with chip and signature (the vast majority of US cards), but somehow I doubt that. I really don't have much faith in retailers doing NFC correctly here either, if they even bother to turn it on. Frankly I can see Samsung Pay becoming more popular than Apple/Android Pay here simply because of the former's ability to emulate swiping a magnetic stripe card.

In slightly better news though, at least small businesses seem to be keeping NFC turned on. It also works somewhat well at these locations even if I still have to sign with it.

Does seem a bit slow. And you have to enter your pin on a big touch screen?!