Apple Pay officially goes live in the UK

London - Apple fans are rejoicing today because the awaited Apple Pay has gone live in the UK, nine months after the contactless mobile payment service first launched in the US. According to Apple, its mobile payment service was activated over 1 million times over the first three days of its launch in the US and the firm has has similar expectations for its UK launch.

Apple Pay, which lets users make mobile payments in-store using their iPhones 6 or Apple Watch or online with an iPad, works together though credit card firms MasterCard and Visa to offer the service to UK cardholders. Over 250,000 stores throughout the UK will accept Apple Pay, which lets user pay up to 20 pounds by touching their mobile device to a payment terminal. The new mobile payment app works via Apple's Passbook app, the user's fingerprint through Apple's Touch ID system and an NFC chip.

Apple launches mobile payment service in the UK

Contactless payments have become more and more popular in the UK as most major banks now offer cards which can be touched to a payment terminal to complete a transaction. The first banks to work with Apple Pay include NatWest, Nationwide Building Society, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, Ulster Bank and MBNA. HSBC and First Direct will offer Apple Pay layer this month, and Apple notes more banks including Halifax, Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banks, M&S Bank and TSB Bank will join later this autumn. Barclays is said to be still be in negotiation with Apple on offering Apple Pay.

"Innovation in UK payments means it’s fast becoming the most advanced market in the world and the arrival of Apple Pay heralds this new era. We will see more change in the next five years than we've seen in the last 50, bringing even more convenience and security for consumers," commented Mark Barnett, President of MasterCard UK & Ireland on the launch of Apple Pay.

UK retailers which will accept Apple Pay in-store payments include fashion retailers Marks & Spencer, JD Sports, Liberty and New Look. Other retailers such as Zara, Miss Selfridges, Topshop and Zalando will accept online payments through Apple Pay. "M&S already has one of the biggest contactless payment estates in the UK and our integration of Apple Pay means we are well set up to cater for customers' evolving shopping habits," said Laura Wade-Gery, Executive Director Multi-channel at M&S.

"We've already seen our customers embrace the benefits of contactless technology and mobile payment - and developments like Apple Watch are set to be an exciting part of the future retail landscape, creating even quicker, easier and more convenient ways to shop."