Just as previously rumored, Apple Pay has gone live in the United Kingdom, approximately nine months after it first launched in the United States. Usable with existing contactless payment systems in more than 250,000 retailers across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, the service includes support for quite a few banks and financial institutions in the country, though there are a few notable banks missing from the initial launch list.
The first institutions to offer Apple Pay support in the UK are American Express, MBNA, Nationwide, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, and Ulster Bank. While not included initially, the Bank of Scotland, First Direct, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, M&S Bank, and TSB are all adding their support soon. HSBC will not be joining the group until “later in July,” reports iMore, and while Barclays is notably absent from both lists, it has previously confirmed Apple Pay support will be “imminent.”
