HSBC And First Direct To Support Apple Pay

Apple Pay is steadily grabbing more support in the United Kingdom, with HSBC and First Direct both announcing support for the contactless payment solution.

Both providers will allow credit and debit cards to be linked onto Apple Pay. Customers can now pay for London Underground tickets, Starbucks coffees or McDonalds meals using their iPhone or Apple Watch.

It is nice to see two more banks jump on the Apple Pay ship, after Lloyds Bank and its subsidiaries: Halifax, Bank of Scotland and TSB all announced delays. M&S Bank, owned by HSBC, is also still working on support.

The only other major banking firm not supporting Apple Pay is Barclays. The bank originally had no plans to support Apple Pay, but a backlash from users forced the bank’s hand. It now intends to support Apple Pay by autumn.

Due to most smaller banking firms being owned by the big four, it may take some time for Apple Pay to be accepted by all banking firms. Barclays is not the only one that is having a hard time gifting support over to Apple, despite customers wanting the integration.

What banks lack for in speed, retailers are making up for with support. Thousands of retailers in the UK have announced support for Apple Pay, especially multinational companies that have already added support in the United States for the mobile payments service.