Apple Wallet Expands Banking Feature to UK; Canada Not Ready Yet

Apple is initiating a soft launch of a new feature in its iPhone Wallet app, leveraging the United Kingdom’s Open Banking API.

The integration allows the Wallet app to display users’ current bank account balances, as well as a history of deposits and payments. This feature aims to enhance financial awareness by showing balances inline during Apple Pay transactions, reports 9to5Mac.

The new integration is part of the iOS 17.1 developer beta and will initially be available to a select group of Wallet app users in the UK. To qualify, users must have an Apple Pay card linked to a bank that supports this feature. Initial supporting banks include Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS, Monzo, and Starling.

Users can securely authorize the integration through the Wallet app, following a familiar OAuth flow that redirects them to their bank’s app or website for authentication. In line with Apple’s privacy standards, all data retrieved via this API will be stored solely on the user’s device and will not be saved on Apple’s servers.

The feature is launching exclusively in the UK due to the country’s interoperable open banking standard. The feasibility of introducing a similar feature in other regions, such as the United States, remains uncertain.

What about Canada? Well, things happen a bit slowly here. According to the federal government’s website (last updated on August 31, 2022), “Open banking is not yet available in Canada, but it is available in other countries, like Australia and the UK. The Government of Canada is currently considering the best way to enable its safe introduction in Canada.”

So yeah, maybe open banking will one day appear here, but I’m not getting my hopes up on it happening anytime soon.