Apple Pay Is Coming To The UK On July 14

Apple Pay has been available for some time now in the U.S. but it’s now going to be available in the U.K. The U.K. launch will mark Apple’s first expansion of the service outside of the United States.

The company mentioned at its WWDC last month that the service would go live in the country sometime in July. Now, thanks to documents obtained by 9To5Mac, we know the Apple Pay launch date in the United Kingdom is July 14.

The service will be compatible with the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, and the Apple Watch. Of course, the new iPhones coming out later this year will also work with Apple Pay.

As The Verge reported, at its launch, Brits will be able to make payments at over 250,000 locations across the country. The Verge went on to note that some banks in the United Kingdom are ready for Apple Pay as well.

“Tap-to-pay systems are already installed in many stores across the UK, and those systems are already compatible with Apple Pay. A number of banks are already on board as well, including HSBC, Santander, Natwest, Nationwide, First Direct, and others.”

As 9To5Mac mentioned in their report, at the launch of Apple Pay in the U.K., users will be given a £20 transaction limit. This appears to be a rather small sum to limit payments to, but it’s likely just a precaution. Apple will want to make sure everything is running smoothly before allowing users to spend large sums of money using the new service.

If you don’t know what Apple Pay is, it’s Apple’s mobile wallet. It allows users to pay for goods at select locations with just a swipe of their phone. Users input their credit card information into the Apple Pay section of iOS’ Passbook app. Once you’ve done that, you can start paying for things using your iPhone’s NFC chip.

Apple Pay uses the NFC technology in your iPhone 6 and 6 Plus to communicate with a payment terminal. Touch ID is then used to authenticate purchases you make with the service.

Though the idea is clearly a brilliant one, many iPhone users simply haven’t used the feature. Whatever the reason, only six percent of iPhone users have actually signed up for Apple Pay. It’s very plausible that Apple Pay will be more successful in markets other than the United States. After the U.K., Apple is interested in bringing the service to Canada, China, and South Korea.

[Photo by Bryan Thomas]