UPDATED 00:41 EDT / JULY 14 2015

NEWS

It’s official: Apple Pay launches in U.K. today

At the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) that took place in June, Apple announced that Apple Pay will launch in the U.K. sometime in July.

Following rumors surrounding the official launch date over recent days, The Telegraph confirmed that more than 250,000 merchants across the U.K., including KFC, MacDonald’s, Waitrose, Boots and Marks & Spencer will accept payments through Apple Pay as of July 14.

In addition to shops, Transport for London also supports Apple Pay, allowing commuters on London’s public transport system to pay for Tube, bus and train journeys using the payments service.

Apple Pay is supported by major credit and debit card issuers and eight of the U.K.’s top banks, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, First Direct, HSBC, Nationwide, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, and Ulster Bank.

According to Apple’s U.K. Apple Pay website, additional banks, including Lloyds, Halifax, MBNA, TSB, Bank of Scotland, and more will add support for Apple Pay later this year.

Notably absent from both lists is Barclays, the U.K.’s second-largest bank. Following Apple’s announcement at WWDC, Barclays said it was in ongoing talks with Apple regarding support for Apple Pay in the U.K and as recently as last week MacRumors reported that the bank anticipates “imminent” support for Apple Pay.

Apple Pay can be used to pay for goods and services at participating merchants up to the value of £20 per transaction. That limit is set to increase to £30 in September.

The transaction limit is imposed as a security measure and is expected to fall away once U.K. merchants and payment providers update outdated network specifications on their payment terminals.

Apple Pay makes use NFC technology to enable contactless payments. Each card loaded in Passbook is assigned a unique Device Account Number, and along with a transaction-specific dynamic security code, is used to process payments. Users’ account details are never transmitted between the device and payment terminal, reducing the risk of fraudulent transactions.

Apple Pay is available to iPhone 6 and 6 Plus users, and Apple Watch users whose watch is paired with and iPhone 5 or later.

Apple Pay was first launched in the U.S. in October 2014 and its U.K. launch marks the services first international expansion. Rumors suggest Apple Pay may soon also expand to China and Canada.

Image via apple.com

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