Apple Pay made its way to the United Kingdom a few months ago and a new offer now boosts its appeal: free public transit courtesy of MasterCard.
Mobile payment services are rapidly gaining momentum and a number of options now fight for dominance. Samsung Pay, Apple Pay, Android Pay, all compete in the same category and each of them wants to stand out from the crowd and attract more customers.
Samsung kicked off several offers to make its mobile payment service more attractive, and now Apple Pay fans get some love as well.
MasterCard just launched a neat new "Fare Free Mondays" limited-time promotion, allowing Apple Pay customers in London to take advantage of free public transit each Monday until Dec. 14.
More specifically, MasterCard will refund daily fares to customers who use Apple Pay for the public transportation network in London. The refund limit is up to £27.90 or about $42. The deal applies to those who travel by bus, tram, the Tube, London Overground, DLR and the majority of services from National Rail.
Mark Barnett, MasterCard UK&I president, highlights that Transport for London's (TfL) move in 2014 to allow users to pay via contactless devices and cards on London Underground proved to be a "phenomenal catalyst" for the growing popularity of contactless payments in the U.K.
"Now that Apple Pay has arrived we want to encourage travellers on London's transport network to try it out and give them another convenient option to pay for their travel. What better way to do this, than to offer MasterCard customers using Apple Pay the chance to travel for free over the next four consecutive Mondays."
As a reminder, Apple's mobile payments service became available in the U.K. back in July of this year and it already raised plenty of interest. Apple Pay currently works on the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, the Apple Watch, the iPad Pro, iPad Air 2, iPad mini 4, and iPad mini 3.
More than 250,000 locations in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland currently work with Apple Pay, and the mobile payment system is expected to keep expanding its services. Just recently, Apple Pay got two more banks on board in the U.K., adding support from TSB and Tesco Bank.
The latest offer from MasterCard will likely convince more iOS owners to use Apple Pay if they have a compatible device. For more details on "Free Fare Mondays" and how to take advantage of the limited-time offer, head over to MasterCard's website.
