Apple Pay is a digital wallet service from Apple that lets users make payments in stores, online, and in apps using their Apple devices. With it, users can add their credit and debit cards to their iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch and use them to pay for purchases with a single tap. It is accepted at millions of retail locations and online stores, making it a convenient way to pay for everyday items.
In response to a customer inquiry, Barclays has showed it intends to end its holdout against Apple Pay within the next 60 to 75 days. The news means that Barclays will join the rest of the major UK banks in accepting the mobile payment solution and stop it’s more than 6 month holdout. Barclays has been one of the most vocal opponents of Apple Pay due in part in part to its own HCE-based mobile payment service for Android phones and other Barclay based mobile solutions that gave the bank leverage in its fee discussions with Apple.
While the move ends a significant sore spot for Apple in the UK, the technology company still faces an uphill struggle in other early Apple Pay markets around the work like Australia, Canada and China to convince banks over transaction fees. The international struggle highlights in sharp contrast the different experience Apple Pay is receiving in the US and abroad and should serve as an important lesson for other mobile payment service operators looking to launch international services.
Overview by Tristan Hugo-Webb, Associate Director, Global Payments Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
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