One of the worst kept secrets in the payments industry ever, came to fruition with the launch of Apple Pay in the UK:
Credit card providers Visa, MasterCard and American Express have all registered to use Apple Pay, as have a number of banks, including Ulster Bank, Nationwide, Santander and the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Retailers and restaurants offering the service in the UK include Waitrose, M&S, Boots, McDonalds, while Transport for London is also allowing people to pay for trips in London using the service.
It is interesting to note the banks not on that list. Namely Barclaycard who recently made significant investments in its bPay mobile payments product launch and HSBC who is attributed with leaking the Apple Pay launch date, although both banks are expected to join in soon. It will be interesting to watch the adoption in the UK and compare that to the US experience. The next leak that would be interesting is to understand if Apple was able to preserve the business model they are reported have in the U.S., where Apple earns 15 basis points on transactions, paid for by the issuers.
Overview by Sarah Grotta, Director, Debit Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
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