Apple Pay Is Coming To Barclays In 2016

Barclays will finally begin supporting Apple Pay next year, reversing a decision not to support the mobile payment system when it launched in the UK in July.

The news was revealed in an email response to a customer complaint, in which a senior Barclays executive said that Apple Pay would be coming to its users early in 2016.

Coming soon

“We have signed up for ApplePay and will launch it very early in the New Year. We truly value your custom and hope that you continue to bank with us particularly since we are launching this shortly,” Barclays CEO of Personal and Corporate Banking Ashok Vaswani told customer Mike Jobson via email.

Barclays had thought to be reluctant to push the use of Apple Pay to its customers due to its ongoing support for its own bPay mobile payment technology.

Following a number of trials, bPay finally went public across the UK earlier this year with the launch of three new devices – a wristband, fob and sticker, which are now on sale to anyone with a registered Visa or MasterCard debit or credit card.

Last month, the bank also revealed it would be allowing NFC payments on devices using its Android app from November. Barclaycard card users will soon be able to pay for goods and services using NFC contactless technology, and unlike usual contactless payments, which are currently limited to £30 in the UK, the service can be used to make purchases up to £100, provided the user also enters a PIN.

Barclays’ impending launch now leaves only a handful of UK banks that don’t yet offer Apple Pay. This includes Lloyds, which has said it will support Apple Pay by the autumn, however Halifax, M&S, TSB and Bank of Scotland are all yet to confirm.

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