Barclays Anticipating 'Imminent' Support for Apple Pay in United Kingdom

MacRumors has learned that a high-level executive at Barclays, one of the largest banks in the United Kingdom, anticipates "imminent" support of Apple Pay in the country. Apple Pay in the U.K. is expected to go live on Tuesday, although it remains unclear if Barclays will be a first wave launch partner because of its delayed negotiations with Apple about the mobile payments service.

Barclays Apple Pay UK
Apple confirmed at WWDC last month that Apple Pay will be available in the U.K. in July, but stopped short of providing a specific launch date. Recently released employee training documents have suggested the launch could come next week, on July 14, and some Santander customers were able to add their cards to Passbook for use with Apple Pay and make purchases ahead of that date.

Barclays was notably absent from Apple's list of banks that will support Apple Pay in the U.K. at launch or soon after, which presently includes HSBC, Lloyds Bank, Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland, First Direct, Halifax, M&S Bank, MBNA, NatWest, Nationwide, Santander, TSB and Ulster Bank. The bank's subsidiary Barclaycard has offered an Apple Rewards Visa Card for several years.

Barclaycard recently expanded its "bPay" lineup of wearable solutions for contactless payments to include a wristband, key fob and sticker, leading to speculation that Barclays may be electing to use its own mobile payments services as opposed to Apple Pay, similar to how some retailers maintained exclusivity to the CurrentC platform last year. Today's confirmation, however, indicates otherwise.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
CarPlay Hero

Apple Releases Wireless CarPlay Fix

Wednesday April 16, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
If you have been experiencing issues with wireless CarPlay in your vehicle lately, it was likely due to a software bug that has now been fixed. Apple released iOS 18.4.1 today, and the update's release notes say it "addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles." If wireless CarPlay was acting up for you, updating your iPhone to iOS 18.4.1 should...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Triad

Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone May Finally Go All Screen

Tuesday April 15, 2025 6:31 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "bold" new iPhone Pro model for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. As part of what's being described as a "major shake-up," Apple is said to be developing a design that makes more extensive use of glass – and this could point directly to the display itself. Here's the case for Apple releasing a truly all-screen iPhone with no...
maxresdefault

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and ...
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday April 15, 2025 7:37 am PDT by
The first iOS 19 beta is less than two months away, and there are already a handful of new features that are expected with the update. Apple should release the first iOS 19 beta to developers immediately following the WWDC 2025 keynote, which is scheduled for Monday, June 9. Following beta testing, the update should be released to the general public in September. Below, we recap the key...
top stories 2025 04 19

Top Stories: iPhone 17 Pro Rumors, CarPlay Bug Fix, and More

Saturday April 19, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
This week saw rumor updates on the iPhone 17 Pro and next-generation Vision Pro, while a minor iOS 18.4.1 update delivered not just security fixes but also a fix for some CarPlay issues. We also looked ahead at what else is in Apple's pipeline for the rest of 2025 and even the 20th-anniversary iPhone coming in 2027, so read on below for all the details on these stories and more! iPhone 17 ...
tvOS 18 Thumb 1

Apple Releases tvOS 18.4.1

Wednesday April 16, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released tvOS 18.4.1, a minor update to the tvOS 18 operating system that came out last September. tvOS 18.4.1 comes two weeks after Apple released tvOS 18.4, and it is available for the Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD models. tvOS 18.4.1 can be downloaded using the Settings app on the ‌Apple TV‌. Open up Settings and go to System > Software Update to get the new software....
Apple TV Plus Feature 2 Magenta and Blue

Apple TV+ Available at Significantly Lower Price Until Next Week

Friday April 18, 2025 11:42 am PDT by
Apple TV+ is currently available at a much lower price than usual, but time is running out if you want to take advantage of the offer. In the U.S., new and qualified returning customers can subscribe to Apple TV+ for just $2.99 per month, for three months. Afterwards, regular pricing of $9.99 per month applies. The offer is available in the Apple TV app, and at tv.apple.com, through April...

Top Rated Comments

AngerDanger Avatar
128 months ago
I can't stop staring at the Barclays ligature ('https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typographic_ligature'). It's… perplexing.



Attachment Image
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kdarling Avatar
128 months ago
...snip...
Hi. What Swiss-G said is correct. The merchant's bank is irrelevant. All that is needed is that YOUR Credit Card's issuing bank has made a deal with Apple and has the ability to detokenize the DAN (Device Account Number) into your PAN (Primary Account Number) which is the one on your real card.

Here, I've made a crude drawing. The red parts must match. You register your card number (PAN) into Apple Pay, and Apple contacts your card's Issuer Processor service to provision a matching token (DAN) into your device to use for payments. (left side of chart)



Thereafter, when you tap to pay, your device sends the DAN token and the OD-CVM (On Device Cardholder Verification Method) flag via NFC comms to the Merchant's Terminal.

If the terminal is updated, it can recognize the OD-CVM flag and bypass the usual contactless PIN / signature limits. Note that this standardized flag can be used by any payment method, not just Apple Pay. If the terminal is not updated, then the limits still apply.

If under (or no) PIN limit, the Merchant Terminal dumbly sends the DAN (it doesn't know it's a token because it looks just like a real account number) upstream via the Merchant's Acquirer service, through the Credit Card Brand (Master /Visa /Amex) to the Issuer Bank's Processor, where it is translated into the real number (PAN) for card Issuer Bank approval. (Alternatively, this translation can be done at the branding level.)

The approval then runs the reverse course back down to the merchant terminal and your device.

At the end of each day, the Merchant Acquirer service totals up sales - refunds, and requests each card Issuer Bank to deposit that much money (minus the Acquirer's and Brand's fees) into the Merchant's Bank, which can be any bank. The Credit Card Brand (Master /Visa /Amex) is responsible for sending a cut of the fees that normally go to the bank, to Apple.

Attachment Image
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PJWilkin Avatar
128 months ago
I filled an official complaint form in about their lack of support for apple pay, I had a phone call within 2 hours from Barclays explaining the situation. I laughed at how much abuse they were getting on Twitter not supporting it. I'm guessing the amount of complaints / comments being made has made them change their mind. I'm giving them until Christmas to support it or I'm off to somebody else .
Christmas ? I'm giving them until the end of next week to make a statement

If they remain silent, I'll move all my accounts to another bank
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Billberryjuice Avatar
128 months ago
So how does apple pay actually work?
Here you go. ('http://******.com/?q=so+how+does+apple+pay+actually+work')
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Azzin Avatar
128 months ago
I'd been with Barclays for about 20 years. Switched my account to First Direct when I heard they weren't going to support Apple pay at launch.
Got £100 from First Direct too, better than forking out £25 for a bpay bracelet...
Got to say I miss Barclays online banking though, they did it very well. Their iOS banking apps were also very good.
May consider switching back if they support Apple Pay.
Come on Barclays! Sort it out and win back your customers!
Now you're with First Direct, you will begin to realise quite how **** all the other companies you deal with are, when it comes to customer service.

I've been with FD since the day they launched and would never ever consider switching to another back.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bpeeps Avatar
128 months ago
Good. Soon they can stop complaining.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)