As of yesterday, July 14th, 2015, British businesses will be able to take payments using Apple Pay. It is a contactless system where customers are able to hold up their iPhone 6/6 Plus or Apple Watch to a card reader to pay for their items. Currently, it is only able to make transactions of up to £20 which will rise to £30 in September. It works by using a TouchID fingerprint scanner stored on the device or transferred to the merchant.
Apple has emphasised that the payments will be secure, even more so than a credit or debit card.
“With Apple Pay, instead of using your actual credit card or debit card numbers when you add a card, a unique device account number is assigned, encrypted and securely stored in the secure element – a dedicated chip in the iPhone, iPad, and iWatch – these numbers are never stored on Apple servers. When you make a purchase, the device account number, along with a transaction-specific dynamic security code is used to process your payment. So your actual credit or debit card numbers are never shared by Apple with merchants or transmitted with payment.”
Apple said that if their users no longer have access to their device they can use ‘Find My iPhone’ to put their device in “lost mode” to either suspend Apple Pay or remotely wipe their device.
Currently, banks such as NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank, Nationwide, and Santander are offering Apple Pay. However, HSBC users weren’t very happy yesterday when Apple Pay was released to find out that HSBC won’t be launching the service until the end of July. Halifax Bank of Scotland, Lloyds, and TSB will launch Apple Pay in the Autumn.
So where can I use Apple pay?
– Lidl
– M&S
– Starbucks
– Costa
– KFC
– Subway
– Nando’s
– Spar
– Wagamama
– BP
– Pret
– Bill’s
– Mcdonalds
– Post Office
– Le Pain Quotidien
– Waitrose
Later in the year it will be available at:
– Five Guys
– EAT
– Cost Cutter
– New Look
– Wilkinsons
– Screwfix
– Dune
– JD Sports
How do I set up my Apple Pay?
- Open Passbook & Apple Pay
- Add a credit or debit card by tapping the plus icon in the right hand corner
- If the card is not already associated with your linked iTunes account, using the camera function you can add it to Passbook. However, if the card is already linked with your iTunes account, you’ll be prompted to enter its security code
- Select Next to send the info to your bank and verify your data
- Select Next again when your bank has approved the info, and you’re good to go!
How do I use it on my Apple Watch?
Your Apple Watch is treated as a separate device to your iPhone and can thus be used independently, and you can, therefore, store different cards on your Apple watch to your iPhone. To register your card on the Apple Watch you have to do so on the Apple Watch app on the paired iPhone.
How do I make an in-app purchase?
- When you’ve selected something to buy, select Buy with Apple Pay / the Apple Pay button
- Enter additional delivery details, which will be stored in the memory for future purchases
- Use the Touch ID to complete the payment
How do I change my default card?
- The first card that you add to Apple Pay will automatically be the default. So if you’re not happy with that being the default, you can change it by opening Settings, then clicking on Passbook & Apple Pay
- Select Default Card, then select the new card as your preferred default.