Apple Pay Launches in the UK; Canada Again Can Only Dream

Apple Pay was announced for the UK back in June at WWDC and now the service has gone live, as it said it would in July.

According to The Telegraph, which had an early hands-on with the service, “Santander, NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland customers are among the first to be able to use their accounts with Apple Pay from the launch, while Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland account holders will have to wait until the autumn.”

As for Barclays customers, the bank has said Apple Pay support is coming “imminently.”

Apple Pay can be used immediately in the UK at the following locations, which number in the range of 250,000:

• Lidl
• M&S
• Post Office
• Liberty
• McDonalds
• Boots
• Costa
• Waitrose
• Pret
• BP
• Subway
• Wagamama
• Spar
• KFC
• Nando’s
• New Look
• Starbucks
• Dune
• JD Sports

In order to use Apple Pay, an iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus or Apple Watch is required, along with a credit card from a supported and approved bank.

As for Apple Pay in Canada, the WSJ pegged the service could arrive here as early as November, although negotiations are still underway with Apple over credit transactions costs and security protocols.