Following Apple’s announcement that Apple Pay is coming to other countries outside the US in the coming months, MasterCard has been the first to major player to declare that it will offer its customers access to the service when it launches in the UK next month.
MasterCard has built a foundation for secure mobile transactions made with Apple Pay, to allow consumers to use their cards where and how they want with a seamless payment experience. For consumers and merchants alike, that means that every purchase made with a MasterCard using an iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus or Apple Watch will offer the security, benefits and guarantees of any MasterCard transaction.
In shops, consumers can pay contactlessly simply by holding their iPhone near a contactless terminal and authenticating with Touch ID. For purchases within an app, consumers simply touch to pay and authenticate with their fingerprint or passcode for a seamless experience without having to enter their card number or leave the app.
MasterCard is working with several banks, including: HSBC; MBNA; RBS/Natwest and Santander, to enable users of an iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus or Apple Watch to use their MasterCard credit, debit or prepaid cards directly through Apple Pay.
Security and privacy is at the core of Apple Pay. When a customer adds a credit or debit card to Apple Pay, the actual card number is not stored on the device, nor on Apple servers. Instead, a unique Device Account Number is assigned, encrypted and securely stored in the Secure Element on your device.
“Apple Pay, combined with MasterCard’s digital payments technology, gives consumers a simple, convenient and secure way to shop,” says Mark Barnett, President of MasterCard UK & Ireland. “MasterCard was first in the world to offer contactless and mobile payment solutions, and Britons have rapidly adopted tap and pay behaviour. In the UK, we make more than 10 contactless payments every second, and on Transport for London alone, commuters tap to pay over one million times a day. With this clear shift in payment preference so strongly embedded, we are excited that MasterCard cardholders will soon be able to make payments from some of their Apple devices, knowing that every purchase is secure and offers all the same guarantees and benefits they’ve come to expect from using their MasterCard.”
Apple Pay is easy to set up and users will continue to receive all of the rewards and benefits offered by their payment cards, and the consumer protection afforded by MasterCard remains the same. In shops Apple Pay works with iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch. When paying for goods and services within apps, Apple Pay is compatible with iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3.
Look out for more on the impact of Apple Pay on UK retail in this week’s M-Retailing newsletter out thursday.
