HSBC & First Direct Now Support Apple Pay

Apple Pay is now available to even more UK customers of both HSBC and its subsidiary First Direct.

Users with an iPhone 6, 6 Plus or Apple Watch can link their credit or debit card to their phone for use at over more than 250,000 locations across the UK.

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Apple Pay officially launched in the UK on July 14, however HSBC and First Direct were unable to offer the service immediately, although the bank did promise a July launch last month.

“It’s just one of the ways we’re helping our customers manage their money the way they want to, whether that’s on a smartphone, in branch or online,” Francesca McDonagh, HSBC’s head of retail banking and wealth management in the UK, said at the time.

HSBC has just over 16 million customers in the UK, with First Direct adding an extra 1.25 million.

Major retailers including Boots, Marks & Spencer and Waitrose are all supported by Apple Pay, as are restaurants such as KFC, McDonalds, Nandos, Starbucks and Wagamamas, and apps including the likes of Just Eat, Addison Lee, Hailo and Dominos.

To begin with, Apple Pay will match the £20 limit per transaction currently set by contactless cards. However, this may increase from September, when the limit is set to rise to £30 meaning Apple Pay may also increase around then.

HSBC’s 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 Barclays, Halifax, M&S, TSB and Bank of Scotland are all yet to confirm.

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