UK Launch of Apple Pay Rumoured for First Half of 2015

Apple has started negotiations with Britain’s top banks to bring Apple Pay to the UK, reports the Telegraph. Although no major bank would want to miss out on Apple Pay, negotiations are tricky, because of the details of the collaboration, specifically the data Apple can access, sources revealed.

Apple pay wallet

The banks are allegedly uncomfortable with the amount of personal and financial information Apple desires access to. Some executives went as far as to raise concerns as to whether “Apple Pay and the data it delivers to Apple could serve as a beachhead for an invasion of the banking industry.”

Apple Pay launched in the US alongside the iOS 8.1 update and has proven to be highly successful: in just three weeks it accounted for roughly 1% of Whole Foods’ complete transactions. By the end of November Apple’s mobile payment platform (which, by the way, is limited to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus) accounted for 50% of McDonalds’ mobile payment transactions.

According to a recent report issued by ITG, during November Apple Pay accounted for 1% of all digital payments, closing the gap on Google Wallet (currently 4%), which has been on the market since 2011.

Since the original announcement (September 9, 2014), Apple has added many other banking partners and has opened talks with banks in other countries such as China. While Canada is technically ready for Apple Pay, the involved parties are said to be themselves wrangling over terms.

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