The Apple Pay bandwagon is gaining steam as two additional UK banks jumped on board recently, just in time for the holiday season. Both Tesco Bank and TSB have confirmed their support for Apple Pay, and we expect more to follow.
In the UK, the following banks are currently supporting the new Apple Pay service: Santander, MBNA, American Express, Nationwide, RBS, Ulster Bank, Lloyds, Natwest, HSBC, and First Direct. With TSB and Tesco Bank now part of the fold, the only bank holding out is Barclays.
Still, this shouldn't be an issue for folks who have joined Barclays because the bank has announced that it plans to adopt Apple Pay come 2016. The bank has not specified when exactly, so interested parties will have to keep an eye out for a future announcement.
What's interesting about Tesco Bank's newly-added support for Apple Pay is the fact that many of its accompanying supermarkets across the UK do not support NFC payments. One of the reasons for this could be the contactless payment solution, which has a limit of £30 ($46). This limit might not be ideal for customers who shop on a weekly or monthly basis.
Rumors have it Tesco might do away with the limit completely. Until that happens, only shoppers in London and other regions can take advantage of it.
Bear in mind that all Tesco Bank users who take advantage of Apple Pay will still get Clubcard points when they shop. The bank states that if folks are shopping in a Tesco store, they must swipe their Clubcard to gain standard Clubcard points.
As for TSB, the bank is offering five percent cashback on Apple Pay payments when using a Classic Plus account. Note that this only works for the first £100 combined Apple Pay payment for each month until December 2016.
TSB is also following the same procedure for those who use Apple Pay with TSB-issued credit cards such as TSB MasterCard or AMEX credit card. Users must register for Internet Banking to be qualified.
